Going for the Dough
by Angel360-Devil0
Summary: As Total Drama Action starts, the stakes are suddenly higher for everyone involved.
1. Sleuthing Time

**A/N:** So here we are again! We're going day by day, challenge by challenge, camper by camper, and we'll start it off with a prologue. We're covering the two days before TDA. So…six weeks. Who knows how many challenges. I'd say we're in for a pretty big ride. Our good friend the Confession Cam is still in use in the form of a shack at the resort, but only for the producers' pleasure, and maybe it'll be aired. Who knows? I know I don't, I'm not a producer! Let's recap: for those new to the series, please, read the other two fanfics, IN ORDER. That's "In It to Win It?" and "Reunions are Fun! Right?". For the veterans, drop a line in a review when you're done, we're strapped in and ready to go!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own TDA. If I did, it'd be airing in the USA right now. I own the laptop where I watch the episodes and my OC Julie Rose Anderson. However, I do not own the website where I watch the episodes. I still own Julie Rose Anderson. All rights reserved.

* * *

"It's been quite a day huh?" I asked.

"Um…yeah." Gwen slightly agreed. We were back at Playa des Losers, lounging by the pool, and it's been one hour since Gwen and I found out we were 2 out of 16 campers coming back for season two of this show. The news is still shocking to some. But almost everyone got over it quickly. Geoff and Bridgette were back at the Jacuzzi making out, Owen, Izzy, and Noah were back at the buffet stuffing their faces. Tyler and Lindsay were talking to each other, and it seems that Beth and Ezekiel are on their way to becoming good friends. Cody is trying to get a tan—again, Harold is still chasing Leshawna, and Justin is trying to hide from Katie and Sadie. I couldn't find Eva, so I assumed she was at the gym. Trent was with Gwen who was with me, so that was everyone. But there was something off…

"Hey, is there someone missing? I can't find everyone."

"Well, Eva left to the gym to exercise all of her anger away, and as for Heather…"

"Heather went to talk with Chris about the terms of the second season. She was screaming like crazy. But it seems like she hasn't come back yet." Trent realized.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam-Small Room at Playa des Losers

"You hear me Chris?! I will not go into this second season without a fight!" Heather demanded huffly.

* * *

"But what about Courtney and Duncan?" I asked. "Surely they haven't gone to complain to Chris. I saved Courtney. She should be fine."

"Oh, I'd put money on the fact that they're making out on one of the beds in the rooms right now." Gwen laughed.

"Or maybe they're arguing with Chris. Duncan didn't like the idea of a second season; we heard him in the lake." Trent argued.

"Could it be both? They're not ones to hold grudges."

"This is the delinquent and Miss CIT we're talking about. The same CIT who used a lamppost to hurt Harold for switching the votes on her, and the same delinquent who blamed Heather for the whole thing. I wouldn't say they can't hold grudges." Trent rebutted.

"Okay, we're on the hunt then! Or, if you want to stay, I'll go by myself. I need something to do!" I stood up.

"Go ahead. I haven't gotten any time alone with Trent. I'll be dying to hear all about it." Gwen smiled.

"All right! You can count on it!" I rushed over to Izzy. If anyone, she'd know their whereabouts. I talked to her.

"Cool! It's like a manhunt, or in this case, a couple hunt! AHAHAHAHA!"

"So, you're in?"

"Totally! Hey Owen, Izzy'll be right back! Izzy'll out burp you next time!"

"Owen doesn't count on it!" Owen referred to himself in third person, and proceeded to start chugging a can of soda. I took Izzy's hand and guided it into the lobby.

"Izzy, we'll have to stick together. You'll have to show me around. I got my room, but it's on the third floor, right next to our new Confession Cam. I haven't gone exploring yet, so I'm trusting you, okay?"

"Do we have permission to check their rooms?" Izzy gave me a crazy look in their eye.

"Well, the producers gave me my keycard, but it isn't an ordinary one." I flashed it. "See this A in the corner? That means it's a master keycard. I can open every single suite in the entire resort." It was true. Unwittingly, Chris gave me a keycard that opened every single one. However, I highly doubted it was an accident, but I kept that thought to myself. "We go in wearing gloves. We can touch things, but we've got to put them back the way they were, or we'll both be in big trouble. Here's your gloves." I handed Izzy some rubber gloves, and I put on my clear ones. Izzy snapped hers on.

"Let's go. We've got some investigating to do." Izzy grabbed my hand this time around and whisked me away to the second floor, up the stairs since the elevator was way too slow. "All right. This is the second floor. The people on this floor are the first ten voted off, including my room. That means Ezekiel, Eva, Noah, Justin, Katie, Tyler, myself, Cody, Beth, and Sadie. We check Ezekiel's room first."

"Wait, they're all on the same floor?" I asked.

"Yeah! Usually they place boys separate from girls, but maybe the producers think differently. I don't know why they did it."

I walked over to Ezekiel's room, slid in the keycard, and after a green dot showed up, I opened the door. "Whoa." And boy was I right. This room was spotless. Who knew Ezekiel was such a neat freak? "Izzy, check the closet and the bathroom. I'll check under the bed." There was nothing under the bed. I soon figured that the missing couple was definitely in one of their rooms, but exploring is so much more fun.

"Nothing here!" Izzy walked out of the bathroom with her hair dripping wet.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Izzy? I don't know why she took a shower in Ezekiel's room. All I know was that it only cememted her insanity." Julie stated blankly into the camera.

* * *

"I'm not going to even ask Izzy. At least get a towel or something." She dashed back in and had a turban on her head.

"I learned how to make this from my uncle! You know, the artistic one who cut off his ear to emulate Van Gogh!" She laughed.

"Did you check the closet?"

"Yeah, nothing in there except for hangers and a safe. Normal hotel stuff."

"All right. Let's go." I told Izzy and we left the room. We proceeded to do this with the other rooms on the floor. Eva, Noah, Justin, and Cody's rooms were clean like Ezekiel's, and the only rooms that were horribly messy were Katie, Sadie, Tyler, Beth, and Izzy's room. Izzy was the worst room though, hands down. There were candy wrappers everywhere and trash littering the floor. She told me this was the mess she created right after the maids came and cleaned everything. Each room had a balcony, and from Sadie's room, we found a ladder parallel to the walls of the building. "Just our luck. Would you care to do the honors Izzy?"

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Truthfully, she was first up that ladder because I thought it was a trick set up by Chris and seriously, better her than me right?" Julie questioned.

* * *

"Totally!" she jumped from the balcony to the ladder and scurried up it to the balcony right above us. After a heard a soft thud, I jumped from the balcony to the ladder. It was metal, like the apartment fire escape ladders, and I quickly climbed up it to where Izzy was. "Okay, this is where the real action is. This is the floor where Courtney and Duncan's rooms are. The rooms are Courtney, Harold, Trent, Bridgette, Lindsay, DJ, Geoff, Leshawna, Duncan, Heather, Gwen, and Owen."

"But that's twelve people."

"Yeah, the pattern's uneven. But at least you get a floor all to yourself! Not a day goes by where I wish I was free to roam a floor doing whatever I want." Izzy sighed.

"Okay, whose room is this?" I asked.

"Use your keycard to find out. Don't you know how to pick a lock using a credit card?"

"No. Will you do it?" I handed her the keycard, and she proceeded to shove it in between the two doors. After a few seconds, I heard a click, and the doors flew open from a kick by Izzy. "Izzy! Don't do that!"

"Oh don't worry! This is Gwen's room! I can tell from the black boots on the floor." I peered into the room, and sure enough, Gwen's boots were on the floor. I walked in and closed the doors to the balcony. "Let's get out of here. Izzy?"

"All right!" She walked out of the bathroom again, shaking her hair. "They're not in the closet or under the bed." I heard a thump suddenly. Izzy went silent.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, whispering.

"Yeah." Then I heard other noises. "Is that…?"

"Oh yeah. Someone's getting down and dirty." Izzy grinned mischievously and then put her ear up against the wall. She then recoiled back after an extremely loud thump. "Whoever's in there, they're loud."

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Actually, I was lying. Those other noises were just someone talking! But I got Julie good." She looks at the camera for a while. "She deserves it for dragging me away from my burping contest! Now I'll have to work up that burp all over again."

* * *

"Izzy, whose room?" I was hoping for anyone but…

"Duncan. It's Duncan's room. The rooms are arranged diagonally. Right across from here is Owen. Diagonally from this room is Heather and right next door means…"

"Duncan. Second base or first?" I kept myself from blushing.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"WHAT?! Was it wrong of me to think that Duncan was getting to second or first base with Courtney?! Come on, this is Duncan and Courtney we're talking about!" Julie argued.

* * *

"I don't know. They're loud, and that can mean either one. The moaning is also common in either one, so yeah. For now, I can't be sure. Wait a minute…" Izzy put her ear back against the wall, and I put my ear against the wall too.

* * *

Me: Yo yo yo ma peeps! After a long hiatus and more info revealed on TDA, I'm back to writing! And I will get more reviews, I promise! Consider this a New Year's Eve present from _moi_!

Duncan: Hahaha right. And Princess will fulfill that New Year's resoultion that she'll be less bossy.

Courtney: Hey! So what if I haven't been able to fulfill it since I was ten? It's not like you're any better.

Me: Now now, let's not start an argument.

Courtney: And I'M in Duncan's room?! DUNCAN?!

Duncan: She can't keep away from me!

Me: *slaps Duncan* Look, if you two keep arguing, I'm definitely going to work in some torture sessions and violence during these ending A/Ns. My accomplices will help.

Julie and Izzy: THAT'S US!

Me: Yup, so don't argue! Got it?!

Courtney and Duncan: Got it.


	2. Close Shave

**A/N: **I've got quite a surprise for you! SURPRISE! AHAHAHAHAHA! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter, we're good to go!

* * *

"Stop doing that. It's getting on my nerves." I heard a muffled voice. Curse these walls!

"Why should I Princess? It's not like I'm going to make a hole in the wall." Courtney and Duncan big time. We've hit jackpot.

"You're ruining the walls of your room. I don't even know why I let you drag me here."

"Well, I don't know why you're still not happy that you're in the second season. At least celebrate with me." I could tell Duncan was smirking, and second base was on his mind.

"You know I can't. This room could be bugged for all I know. And Julie told me not to do anything stupid for the next two days, and this definitely falls under that category."

"Being in my room? It'd be criminal if we were DOING IT in this room. Actually…that doesn't sound like a bad idea right now."

"No. She could be listening right now for all I know!"

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"I'm just a little on edge, that's all. Ever since Julie let me be on the second season, I've been so scared of breaking the rules. He should know! I don't know why Duncan has to be so...perverted! UGH!" Courtney screamed.

--Later--

"She has no clue how right she is! Man, I wish I had a recorder. Too bad they weren't actually doing it. I would've had quite a tale to tell--to the internet!" Julie laughed maniacally.

* * *

"Okay." I heard footfalls.

"Duncan! What are you doing?"

"Checking the other rooms. And I'll start with Geoff's. If she's listening in, it's either in Geoff or Gwen's room."

"That's trespassing! You're not allowed to do that! That's breaking the rules!"

"Since when have I ever followed the rules Princess?"

"We need to leave this room now." I gasped.

"You got it. But we can't fall to the second floor. We could get caught. We'll have to go to Owen's room. Keycard ready?" Izzy asked me.

"Ready. Let's go." We both ran to the door and opened it. Izzy slammed the door though. "Shit! Izzy, we need to go now!" I whispered harshly. I jammed the keycard into the slot and opened the door. Izzy dashed in and I quietly closed the door.

**

* * *

**

Courtney's POV

I heard a door slam. I knew it was definitely coming from outside, so I got up from the bed and looked outside Duncan's room. No one was there. Weird. I'll have to tell him.

"Well Princess, I checked the rooms. No one was there." Duncan walked up to me.

"I heard a door slam."

"That could've been me."

"No, a suite door slam."

"A suite door? Princess, I didn't open any suite doors." I looked at him, dumbfounded as to why he didn't get it yet. "You think someone's up here, but they're not in your sight. Someone on the run."

"I know I heard a door slam." I reasserted to him.

"We're checking Owen's room first."

"Why?"

"Because Gwen's balcony door was unlocked, and she's one who always locks her doors. If someone was in there listening to us, they would've left the room, possibly go to another room to lead us on, to think that they left the floor and send us on a crazy hunt."

"But Julie wouldn't do that! She's too nice!"

"Julie's been hiding some nasty secrets from us. Who knows if we can trust her anymore?"

"Fine. We'll check Owen's room first." It was the only clue we had so far. So I let Duncan take me along to Owen's room, which needed a keycard. "How do we get in?"

"Never underestimate the power of a keycard." Duncan proceeded to shove the keycard in between the door and the wall to attempt to open it.

**

* * *

**

My POV

I heard a lock tumble after quite a few moments of silence.

"We need to get out now Izzy. Go!" I whispered to her.

"You got it." She ran to the balcony door, and in a flash, the doors were open and I heard something clanking against the metal. I ran out the doors, closed them, turned the lock, and jumped to the ladder and scrambled down it, praying to God that they didn't find me.

**

* * *

**

Courtney's POV

"Crap!" Duncan yelled and threw the keycard to the floor.

"Why? No one was here." I asked him.

"Someone was here. Those curtains are swaying, and I heard a door slam as I opened the door. Whoever it was, they just escaped."

"It could've been Izzy just being Izzy. I don't think it was Julie. She's fast, but not that fast." I explained. Julie's just not that fast enough to escape Duncan.

"Babe, if life has taught me one thing, it's to never underestimate people."

"Oh really? Name one person other than Julie that lesson applies to."

"You Princess." He pulled my waist closer to him and kissed me. I closed my eyes and looped my arms around his neck. After a good fifteen seconds, I broke the kiss, gasping for air. "So do we get to make out now?" He asked with a smirk. I smiled and left the room, but at the threshold, I stopped and turned my head so my left eye could see him.

"We'll see." And I closed the door, leaving him in Owen's room and walking back to my own for a lot of thinking.

**

* * *

**

My POV

"Whoo! That was a close one huh Izzy?" I asked as we walked out of the lobby and back to the pool.

"Sure was! I didn't know you had such sleuthing skills! We should be a team for the CSIS! But I'm wanted by the RCMP, so I don't know if I can work for the CSIS." Izzy laughed.

"Well, see you at dinner okay? And Izzy, if Duncan or Courtney come up to you, do not rat me out. Or for that matter, yourself."

"Don't worry! Izzy's lips are sealed!" She bid me farewell and I went back to Gwen. She was casually talking with Trent and Leshawna. "Hey guys!"

"Julie! You're back!" Gwen looked up at me. I sat down next to her.

"Back? Where'd she go?" Leshawna asked.

"She went to find Courtney and Duncan. So, how was it?" Gwen asked me.

"It…was awesome! I haven't had more fun in my life! But you've got to keep quiet about this. First, I got Izzy to come with me. Then, we did a little snooping around in the rooms of the second floor. No one was there. We climbed up a ladder that was near Sadie's room and ended up in your room Gwen."

"You were in my room?" She asked, slightly irritated.

"Don't worry; I didn't touch a thing. We heard a thump from the next door room. And then some noises."

"Oh my goodness…you don't mean…?" Leshawna asked.

"Good news: we found Courtney and Duncan. Bad news: they weren't getting hot and heavy."

"How is that bad news?" Trent asked.

"Well, now I don't have as much of an interesting tale to tell you guys. Izzy and I eavesdropped on their normal conversation. Courtney was stressing over the fact that I might be watching her, and Duncan was trying to get to second base with her."

"That is one messed up white boy!" Leshawna commented.

"It gets better. Duncan decided to check Geoff and Gwen's room."

"Did you get caught? And isn't that trespassing?" Gwen asked.

"We didn't get caught, and technically, it is. But this is Duncan we're talking about. Anyways, Izzy and I hightailed out of Gwen's room to Owen's room, but Izzy slammed the door to Gwen's room on accident. Fearing the worst, Izzy and I rushed into Owen's room. After about a minute or two, I heard a lock tumble. I told Izzy to leave the room, and in a flash, she was gone down the ladder next to Owen's balcony."

"Were you caught?" Trent asked.

"I got out of there. Hopefully, they didn't catch me leaving, or I'm dead meat."

"Speak of the devil! Here comes the white boy himself. Hm, he's going to Izzy." Leshawna said.

"WHAT?!" I turned my head to the buffet and lo and behold, there was Duncan, talking to Izzy. Thank God, she was shaking her head. He nodded and started walking—towards me! I quickly whispered, "Play along." I then started spinning a made up tale about my friends.

"Yup, she was so shocked about her hair. Thankfully, the green dye was temporary and could wash out. But that would've been pretty funny if it were permanent."

"That's cruel." Trent got the message and played along.

"But we took pictures! So it's forever with me…"

"Julie?" I heard Duncan's voice behind me.

"Yes Duncan?" I asked without turning around. "I'm about to start another story about my friends." I turned around to face him. "Care to listen?"

"Can I talk to you…now?" He asked.

"Um…okay…" I looked at my friends worriedly and they shrugged.

"Go on. We won't miss you or anything." Leshawna shooed me away. I nodded and got up and walked with Duncan.

"Did you need me for something?" I pretended to not know what was going on.

"Were you spying on Princess?"

"Spying?! What the fuck are you talking about?!"

"Keep it down! I don't want the others to know!"

"Okay. What spying?"

"Someone was spying on Princess and I, and I highly believe it was you."

"Me? Spying? I'm not cut out for sleuthing. Try talking to Izzy."

"I already did. She knows nothing. You are the next most likely candidate."

"Look, if it's not Izzy, who could it possibly be? Cody? I'm sure you're just a little on edge. We all are, ever since we've been assigned to that second season. I can't believe it either, and I don't want it to be true, but it is. There's a tension in the air, as though we're being watched. It'll subside. You're just used to having cameras all around you 24/7, that's all."

"Mmmm…"

"You'll have cameras in your face before you know it! Anything else you need Duncan?"

"Fine. You can go."

"All right. Have fun while you still can!" I walked back to Gwen, Trent, and Leshawna.

"What was that all about girlfriend? White boy give you trouble?" Leshawna asked.

"No, I was able to safely get out of trouble. Suspicion's not on me…for now."

**

* * *

**

Me: Mmmmm...not one of my better chapters.

Duncan: You got that right!

Noah: You were a bit OOC and did I sense some fluff?

Me: SHIT! FLUFF?! I'm not a fluff writer!

Noah: I can tell. You're not good at writing it.

Me: Noah! If I wrote any fluff reader, it was completely unintentional. I really don't know what fluff looks like though.

Izzy: YES!!! IZZY FINALLY OUT BURPED OWEN!

Owen: You are a goddess!

Julie: Okay, does anyone find this weird or what?

Me: Weird? You're under investigation for spying on Duncan and Courtney! Get back in that holding cell!

Julie: What holding--where'd this come from?! How am I in a holding cell?!

Chef: Brown slop at the ready! And FIRE! *Chef throws brown slop at Julie*

Julie: Shit!

Chef: That's what it might be. Hehehe!

Me: That's just gross.


	3. Last Day

**A/N: **I apologize for the fluff if there was any. I'm not good at writing that sort of stuff, and it was completely unintentional. I'm more of an action/adventure writer. Anyways, if you don't know what the CSIS is, that's the Canadian equivalent of the CIA. The RCMP, as we should know, is the equivalent of the the FBI. And if you didn't know that, now you know. Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter. This is the end of the prologue, and another chapter won't be out for a while. Give me a week or more for the next chapter. Remember US fans, you can watch TDA unedited by CN if you go to the Teletoon website starting January 8.**

* * *

**

**Courtney's POV**

I can't believe this! It wasn't even one hour after being let loose from that island that I was bound right back to it! I'm grateful Julie gave me a spot, but I'm starting to have my doubts. The sidelines are starting to sound like fun after this…ordeal. I'm just worried Julie might be spying on me, and I hope she wasn't the one that bolted from Owen's room. Maybe Duncan found someone…I let out a yawn. I need to sleep for a while. I plopped down on the soft bed and fell asleep, thinking about Duncan.

**

* * *

**

Duncan's POV

After questioning just about every single camper I could find, I got nothing. No one knows who was spying on Princess and I, and the only two capable of it said they knew nothing. Maybe Julie was right. Maybe I'm just used to cameras spying on me…no way. There might be cameras out here, but not in there. Hm, dinner. Time to wake up Sleeping Beauty the only way I know how—B&E and a kiss.

I went into the lobby and up the three floors and found myself at Princess's door. After tumbling the locks, I let myself in. She looks so damn cute when she's sleeping. I crept to her bedside, and just as I was about to kiss her, her eyes flashed open.

"Dinner time already? Okay!" She laughed, got up, grabbed my hand, and we walked down the lobby to the buffet.

**

* * *

**

My POV

"Izzy! I need to talk to you!" Izzy came running to me. "Izzy, did you reveal anything to Duncan that might make him suspicious?"

"Izzy deflects suspicion like a mirror!"

"Okay, we're in the clear."

"Are we doing a midnight raid?" Izzy grinned.

"No way. Too risky. You can do it if you want, but count me out." Izzy nodded and left to Owen. I got in line behind DJ for the buffet, our only source of food. And this isn't Chef's slop. It's real, genuine, tasty food. Today's special was baby back ribs and grilled meat, so I decided to skip the ribs and eat some beef instead. After getting some Cesar salad and some more food, I left to a chaise and sat down to start eating my food.

After quite a few servings, I was full. Soon, 7 PM rolled into 8 PM, and eight rolled into nine. It was dark, and most people were still lounging and eating poolside. Everyone seemed to be here, hell, even Duncan and Courtney were down here! Perfect time for me to slip away. I left to the lobby and went up to the third floor, snooping on my mind and inhibitions thrown to the wind. I used my keycard to slip into Courtney's room first. Her room was immaculately clean, even cleaner than Ezekiel's. Did she have nothing better to do? I sighed and shook my head. I'm going to have to make this brief. I used my mini flashlight to snoop around. Everything seemed to be in order, even the skull that Duncan made for her was on her nightstand. After much examination, I left the room, only to find a light shining down the hall. I shut the door as quietly as I could. I then heard a voice.

"We're clear on this floor. Over." Another voice came out, very quiet though.

"The campers are all down there? Good. Cue music. Over and out." A few moments later, I heard music coming from the pool area. And another voice. "Campers! We're having a party here! No burning stuff and NO ALCOHOL! Have fun!" Chris! Crap! A ratings scam! I have to get down there, and fast! I ran out of the room and used the stairs to get down to the pool. I blended in with everyone else there, as though I was never gone.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! What the campers don't know is that I'm videotaping this party. And I spiked the drinks! This...is going to be AWESOME!!" Chris laughed for a good three minutes.

--Later--

"Alright! A party! WHOO!!! And my buddy alcohol is going to help make this awesome!" Geoff held up a bottle of clear liquid.

* * *

Of course, the couples danced and there was a dance contest, but I still knew it was a ratings scam. I avoided the drinks like the plague, knowing they were spiked. And how did I know? Well, I was about to get some punch around midnight when I saw that almost everyone was utterly wasted. Typical teenagers. The only ones who had a shred of sanity left were Gwen, Noah, Ezekiel, Eva, and Harold. I ran off to my room on the fourth floor and went to sleep, not wanting to deal with the wasted campers.

The next day, almost everyone was in the middle of a hangover. I was packing my stuff, knowing that it was my last day here. We're going back for the competition tomorrow. Ugh! I couldn't even spy on anyone because everyone was in their room! However, I did go to every floor to help those who were having a hangover. I couldn't do a thing today because it was evening when everyone was back to normal, and even then, everyone was in their room packing. Around 9 PM, I was heading back to my room when someone called out to me.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I had to help every person who was hung over. Trust me, watching someone puke is not a pretty sight, especially when you have to do it 17 times over." Julie sniffs her clothes. "Ugh, and I think that smell follows you. I'm going to have to take a good shower tomorrow." She shuddered in disgust.

* * *

"Julie! Wait!" Courtney yelled.

"Yes? If you're going to ask if you're still on for the second season, you are. Okay? Are we good?"

"I suppose. So...I'll see you in the morning?"

"Exactly." I walked away back to my room, inhaled the scent of the room one last time, got changed into my pajamas, plopped down on the bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Me: I think I got my flair back!

Julie: I can't believe you had me be a Good Samaritan and help those with hangovers! It's going to take me at least an hour to get out this stench!

Courtney: I was WASTED?! I'D NEVER BE WASTED!

Julie: Have you read "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Heirate Mich? You're beyond wasted in that fanfic!

Duncan: True. And she was an emotional drunk.

Courtney: WHAT?!

Geoff: Dudes, let's chill. It's getting WAY too heavy.

Julie: Um...didn't you spike the drinks in that fanfic?

Geoff: Oh yeah! Man, that was a rockin' party!

Chris: Hey, did I miss something?

Julie: *punches Chris in the jaw* That's for spiking the damn drinks!

Chris: I swear, I didn't know it'd be that bad. We didn't even add in that much alcohol. For you to be drunk in that amount of time required more alcohol, and I didn't do it! I swear!

Me: Geoff, did you spike the drinks again?!

Geoff: Oh yeah! I didn't know it'd be that bad! Sorry Lane!

Julie: You added on top of another spiking. Chris spiked them the first time, and you did it the second.

Geoff: Ah dudette, I'm so sorry!

Me: Try telling that to the other 16 campers who drank a ton of that punch.

Courtney: They spiked the drinks?! GET THEM!!! *Courtney and the other 15 campers chase after Geoff and Chris*

Me: Give Courtney a mission, and she completes it with gusto...care for some potato chips?

Julie: Don't mind if I do.


	4. Look Into the Past

**A/N: **You know when I said I was going to end the prologue at three chapters? Yeah...I lied. This idea suddenly came to me while I was taking a nap. This prologue's only going to be extended by two chapters...hopefully. So enjoy. Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

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I opened my eyes again. I couldn't sleep. Maybe I was going to bed too early. I turned on the bedside lamp and got up and walked on the carpeted floor of the room. I sat down in front of the vanity in my room and took a good look at myself. My short hair was a little frazzled from the day's work and my pearly whites were starting to lose their shine. My face looked like a horrid mess, probably from all of that sleuthing with Izzy the day before. I left the vanity to look at my watch resting on the bedside table. 10 PM. You have GOT to be kidding me. It's been almost one hour since I tried to go to sleep?! Might as well do that night raid Izzy suggested, if she weren't already doing it. I got changed into my clothes, taking great care to make sure they didn't have any smell sticking to them, pocketed my keycard, pocket knife, and lighter, and opened the door. Everything looked normal, and so I shrugged, closed the door to my room, and walked down the hallway. Chris had taken particular care to put my room all the way at the end of a hallway, the stairs on the other end. I looked at the other rooms on this floor. Hm, I have a keycard to open every single door; maybe I should scrap the idea of snooping around the campers and instead snoop through the other rooms on this floor. They're probably empty, but who cares?! Not me, nor Chris. I walked to the room across from me, slipped the keycard in, and opened the door. It was dark, but it looked normal otherwise. I shrugged, turned around, and bumped right into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" A guy yelled.

"Sorry. Um…" I looked around. The door was nowhere in sight. I was in the middle of a sea of students, all dressed and carrying backpacks, as though they were in school. Then I looked down to what I was wearing. Okay, they were the same clothes, but I felt considerably shorter. I was also carrying a heavy blue backpack now. I ran through the students to the nearest adult I could find. "Excuse me sir!" I had flagged down someone wandering through the halls, most likely a teacher. He was wearing jeans and a white polo shirt and had a full head of white hair.

"Yes? Hm, you don't look like one of my students. Anyway, what are you doing here during lunch time?" He had a deep voice, as though reminding me of someone vaguely familiar…I shook off the feeling.

"Lunchtime?! Oh, I need to get out there then! Sorry for troubling you!"

"Out where? You mean the cafeteria, don't you?"

"Oh right! I'm new here, so where's the cafeteria?"

"You want to go down the stairs at the end of the hall and out the doors once you're down on the first floor. Then, go through the nearest doors you see, make a left and you're there! Now, you're losing precious lunch time, so I suggest you hurry."

"Okay. Thank you!" I bolted down the stairs and out the door to find a huge sea of more students! I started walking through the sea, and I just so happened to walk by a bunch of nicely dressed, much older kids sitting around a table. I concluded this was a junior high school, since the students were all cursing and short, common among junior high students. I was walking by them while a somewhat fat, pimply Asian girl with short black hair wearing a pink shirt and a black skirt, none of which were too flattering on her body. I stopped to see what would happen next.

"Can I sit with you guys now? I'm dressed properly, see?" The girl had a lisp like Beth's, which mean she probably had braces. The girl twirled around, knocking into a few boys passing by, who rudely told her to shove it. The popular group laughed. A girl with sleek blonde hair, almost a replica of Heather, stood up and walked to her

"No, you're still not fit. In fact, you're almost there. You just need one more thing…" The girl, in a flash, threw a handful of red sauce at her. "There you go! Now you've got some makeup to complement your look! You'll never be fit enough to sit with US Heather." Heather. But it can't be. It just can't. The popular group, if they weren't laughing hard before, was now laughing like hyenas. Even if it wasn't Heather, this had to stop.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody your own damn age?! Can you hear me?!" I screamed, but they just kept laughing as Heather looked down, shoulders shaking. Heather, the Queen Bee, was crying. "Heather! Fight back! Do something Heather!" I screamed. The last thing I saw was Heather running off crying and the popular group still laughing their heads off. And then…it was dark. My eyes were open, but it was dark. And the weirdest thing of all? I was lying on my bed, and it was 5:45 AM, or so my watch said when I looked at it from the bed.

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No ending A/Ns this time. Sorry! There's just nothing to say here. Oh, and I've made a few nods to quite a few fanfics throughout this story so far. I'll tell you what they are next chapter. See if you can find them!


	5. The Show

**A/N: **I'm going to just tell you the fanfics I referred to. First, in the first ending A/N, when Courtney and Duncan were talking about New Year's resolutions...yeah, I can't remember what fanfic I got that from. The idea of the private balconies is actually from Wasting Away Again in Sequesterville, but I didn't find that out until after I wrote about it. The ladder was 100% my idea though. The Confession Cam sections pay homage to Total Drama Comeback and its Confession Cam sections. I made a flat-out reference to Baby, It's Cold Outside by Heirate Mich in the third chapter's ending A/N, and in the last chapter, the girl who was making fun of her was supposed to be Heather's enemy from the fanfic Forgive and Forget?. The countless DxC moments are from a variety of fanfics, the main one being Wasting Away Again in Sequesterville. The dirty dream idea (it's later on in here) was something I picked up from the fanfic Let it Snow. This is definitely the last of the prologue, and that means an update won't come for a while. I'm serious this time, really. Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

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So I got up and stretched a bit. I guess it's okay if I took one last walk around here, because I had a bad feeling I wasn't going to be this comfortable for a while. My dream was extremely creepy though. I couldn't help thinking about it while I was taking my shower, brushing my teeth, getting changed and packing up the last of my stuff into my duffle bag. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and put my iPhone in my pocket. Hm, it's now 7 AM. After fitting my earphones into my ear, I set my music on shuffle and started listening to music while I checked the rooms on the floor. I opened the door with my keycard and looked inside. It was the same as my room, without all of my stuff in it. It was back to normal. What a relief. As I was walking down the stairs, "The Show" by Lenka came on. Before I knew it, I was singing along as I set it on repeat. As I walked into the third floor, I slowed down and stopped when the lyrics dictated it. It felt as though I was acting out a musical! And then I started singing along again, making my way through the hall.

**

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Duncan's POV

"Or else my heart is going to pop! 'Cause it's too much, yeah it's a lot…to be something I'm not!" I heard a voice echo in my head. I was jolted back to reality, surprisingly cold. Oh, that's right. I would be warm if Princess had let me sleep in her room, but she refused. Oh well, there was always the second season. But what's that noise? Is that…singing? Now, where have I heard a voice like that? I was thinking Courtney, but I realized she didn't sing. Trent? No, he doesn't have that kind of voice. I had to find out. I got up out of bed and opened my door. And who else could it be but Julie, singing. I realized she was singing along to her music because there were earphone wires dangling from her ears. But she's one good singer.

**

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Confession Cam

"Who bursts into song at 7 in the morning? Okay, maybe that's true in musicals, but not in real life. I mean, I was really hoping I could sneak out--I said nothing. Got that?" Duncan glared into the camera.

**

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DJ's POV

I heard a muffled voice while I was packing up my stuff for season two. I opened the door and found Julie singing her heart out to a song I couldn't recognize. Whoa, did she just do a round-off handspring in the hallway?! This girl is more talented than I thought!

**

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Confession Cam

"I didn't know Julie was that talented! And she's so pretty with that short hair and her short shorts..." DJ stares off into space for a few moments. "Whoa! Where'd THAT come from?!"

**

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Courtney's POV

Is that…singing? I had just finished getting changed and giving myself a pep talk in the mirror. I needed one, because today was the start of the second season. I opened the door, and I found Julie singing. And it was a song I knew too; "The Show" by Lenka. Man, Julie's feel-good mood is getting infectious, enough to make me want to go over to Duncan and give him a kiss. I couldn't help smile at the thought, and then I caught Duncan staring at me. Of course, he had just woken up because he was in nothing but his boxers. He smirked as though he could read my mind, and I quickly dropped my smile, glared at him the best I could, and closed the door to my room to finish packing, all before I was completely red in the face from holding my breath to hold back a fast acting blush. After I calmed down a bit, I was back at the doorway listening to Julie sing.

**

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Confession Cam

Courtney sighs deeply and smiles. "That body..." Her eyes suddenly bug out and her face starts turning a deep red as she stares at the camera. "Uh...Julie's feel-good mood is infectious, because I know I'm starting to feel light and happy, which I'm usually not, especially on a day when I get a second chance to win. I will win, GOT THAT?!" She indignantly huffs and walks away.

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Third Person POV

It didn't take long for the entire third floor to be peeking out of their doors at the curious wakeup call they had gotten, and it was synchronized. While Julie was singing about the part where people synchronize in time, the campers opened their door as though trained to some imaginary rhythm. For some, it wasn't a wakeup call because they were already up getting ready for the second season since every single person on the third floor was going to be in it, but they were pleasantly surprised either way. It was apparent from the smiles on their faces, especially Lindsay, who had taken a liking to the music and was humming along, and Courtney, who was smiling for the first time in what felt like a long time to her, even though it really had only been an hour since she smiled, during the middle of a very dirty dream concerning her and Duncan. When she woke up and was getting ready for the day, she kept mentally slapping herself for dreaming such dirty thoughts, but in the back of her mind, she realized Duncan had really worn off on her. DJ was still shocked from when he saw Julie do quite a few gymnastics tricks in the hallway, iPhone still intact. Even Heather was smiling as she recalled happier times, but then she grimaced when she remembered all of the popular kids making fun of her back in junior high. As the song slowed down near the end (but not quite there yet), she saw the other campers leaning out of their doorways, looking at her.

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Confession Cam

"That was a shocker. I didn't expect for them all to be watching me. And truthfully, I got really nervous at that point." Julie smiles sheepishly.

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My POV

I woke them all up with my singing?! CRAP! And I had to find out right near the end of my song too. So I started to snap my fingers in time with the music and slowly walked down the hallway past every single camper. "I'm just a little bit caught in the middle, life is a maze and love is a riddle I don't know where to go can't do it alone I've tried, and I don't know why…" After that, I was still singing and instead of walking, I was skipping back through the hallway and worked in a few cartwheels and round-offs during this to impress everyone. Then I slowly walked back again during the slowing ending. "Dum de dum, dudum de dum…Just enjoy the show. Dum de dum, dudum de dum…Just enjoy the show. I want my money back, I want my money back, I want my money back, just enjoy the show. I want my money back, I want my money back, I want my money back, just enjoy the show…" At the last line, I turned slowly to face everyone and smiled. I was at the end of the hall, next to Courtney and Harold. Every camper clapped wildly, some mouths agape, others smiling. I guess I put everyone in a good mood. "Thank you! Hope that got you all in a good mood! So…sorry if I woke you up, and it's time for breakfast! Let's go!" And I charged down the stairs to the café where the breakfast buffet was.

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Third Person POV

The hall was silent for a few moments after Julie left. The campers were looking at each other, as though they were telepathically communicating. Either way, they were all wondering what compelled Julie to sing that morning. Was it to throw them off their game? Was it to try to convey a message? Had she simply gone off her rocker? Or was she actually trying to be…nice? Not that she hadn't tried being nice before, but they were all wary either way. Ever since she revealed her deepest, darkest secret to all of them, they had slowly started losing trust in her. Who knows what else she could be hiding? The campers shrugged and closed their doors one by one. Gwen smiled at Trent before she closed the door, Geoff winked at Bridgette, and as Courtney was about to close her door to go back to packing, a hand pulled her from the doorway, forcing her to turn 180 degrees—face to face with Duncan, and soon kissing. She kissed back (of course, remember that dirty dream?), and pulled away, smiling, but still slamming the door in his face. Stupefied, he was slack-jawed for about three seconds before he smirked and sauntered back to his room to change and get ready for breakfast.

**

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Confession Cam

"Uh...wow. Even after I kissed her and she kissed back, she still slams the door in my face." He looks upset for a millisecond, then smirks. "That's my Princess."

--Later--

"That was...kind of romantic. And it reminded me about that dream..." Courtney sighs deeply. "And that body..." Courtney sighed again and started thinking some very dirty thoughts.

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By 7:45 AM, everyone was downstairs eating breakfast. Of course, the campers were talking about Julie's singing outburst and it didn't take long for word to travel to the second floor campers. Courtney had told quite a few campers what the song was called, and Lindsay was still humming the song to herself. Even Heather seriously considered getting the mp3 of the song. Julie was, of course, eating alone, like she had been for the days she'd been at Playa des Losers. She hadn't been expecting words of praise from her fellow friends (she no longer called them campers). After all, the majority of them took things for granted and never knew a good thing until it was gone. But a few campers had come up to her to say thanks for the wakeup call. Heather didn't (even though a part of her wanted to), but Leshawna, Lindsay (who was still calling her Julia), and Bridgette did. DJ complimented her on her gymnastics tricks, and Gwen simply nodded to her as she was going to get more scrambled eggs and bacon. Unbeknownst to Julie and the other campers, Chris had watched the whole thing from his headquarters and was already setting the gears in motion for a third season (he knew the second season would be wildly popular)—and singing would be the theme.

At 9 AM, all of the campers on season two had their bags packed and were waiting at the Muskoka Lake dock for a bus to come and take them to the new location for the second season. They had already left on the white boat that had taken them to Camp Wawanakwa eight weeks ago from Playa des Losers. There weren't any tearful goodbyes, except from Lindsay, who was near bawling her eyes out about leaving Tyler. Justin was still trying to avoid Katie and Sadie while they looked for him so they could give him a big squeeze farewell. They never found him, and they were crying while hugging each other. Julie was the last one to board the boat. She looked around the pool at the other campers who were going to be watching from Playa des Losers and said goodbye. When she got on the boat and while it was pulling away from the dock, she waved goodbye one last time, until they were all just little specks on an island of evergreen trees. At the Muskoka Lake dock, a coach bus pulled up. The campers put their stuff in the carriers under the bus and boarded it. Somehow, as soon as they sat down, they all fell asleep. What they didn't know was that Chris sprayed knockout gas throughout the whole bus. Chris and Chef (who was the bus driver) weren't affected because they had masks on, which only a few campers duly noted. Before the campers knew it, they were standing with their luggage in front of the gates to a studio lot. Julie saw everyone, but then she realized Courtney was missing. Her stuff wasn't here either. Julie then got a bad sinking feeling, but couldn't quite place why as she quickly scanned everyone and heard the gate creak open.

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Me: Fitting ending to the prologue hm?

Julie: Oh yeah. Definitely.

Duncan: I can't believe I didn't get to sleep with Princess.

Courtney: I already told you that I can't get in trouble!

Duncan: But we'll be able to now that you're in the second season right?

Courtney: Uh...

Me: Okay! Courtney, you're not supposed to be here. So...BEGONE!

Justin: I swear, if I had to spend one more day with those girls, my head would've exploded!

Me: Dude, you sound just like Wayne from 6teen. Ugh, Wayne's so...guh.

Julie: Guh?

Me: Another way of saying ugh. Well, it's a typo, but I'm too lazy to correct it. Anyways, what's up with DJ?

Julie: I don't like him...but he seems to like me. Ew! Not that I have anything against him, but I just see him as a good friend.

Me: Right. Well, review, and I'll see you in two and two. Naw, I'll see you in about a week! Bye!


	6. Bus Ride of Doom

**A/N: **Uh...remember when I said that I wasn't going to put up anything else before January 8? Well, I lied...again. Yeah, I have a pretty big tendency to do that, so my bad! The Confession Cam's not going to come into play for a while, or not. I really don't know. So, we're going to delve into what happened BEFORE the gate creaked open to the lot. This is all subject to change come the premiere of the first episode. Warning: major violence, fast-paced action, and a little romance up ahead, but no parodies of action movies or anything. That's tacky. Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter, LET'S GO!

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**Third Person POV**

In reality, some weird things happened on that two hour road trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. When the campers stepped onto the bus, they were fine.

"This is so awesome!" Owen yelled as he sat down.

"Definitely!" Izzy sat down next to him.

"Right on dudes! Let's go!" Geoff sat down with Bridgette. As for the others, well, here's what they did. Duncan and Courtney sat together and proceeded to start making out, as did Geoff and Bridgette. Gwen and Trent were just talking, and Harold was still trying to woo Leshawna. Lindsay and Beth sat together talking about their lives back home, and Heather moved all the way to the back of the bus, wanting to sit by herself and isolate herself from all of the losers. Justin also took a seat at the back of the bus, just by the window so he could admire himself. Julie sat near Chris, and DJ sat close by. Julie was literally holding her breath in anticipation for the bus ride, and then she noticed something weird with Chris and Chef. They both started strapping something on their faces, and in the window, she saw they were gas masks. Julie suddenly tensed up.

"Yo Julie! What's wro—" DJ never finished his sentence because he passed out, snoring. Julie slowly got up and ran to everyone else. Gwen and Trent were each lying over their two chairs, and Bridgette had passed out on top of Geoff, lips unlocked from each other. Harold was slumped over Leshawna's seat, and Leshawna herself was slumped against the seat in front of her, which was the only thing keeping her from falling over onto the ground. Lindsay was slumped against the window and Beth collapsed on the floor with a thud. Justin was in the same position as Lindsay, but smiling, and Heather had fallen over onto the floor with a loud thud. Owen fell against the window head first, and Izzy was coughing. When Julie got to her, Izzy was on the floor, crawling and grabbing for her life.

"Knockout…gassssssssss…" Izzy's head fell and she was out cold. She then realized she forgot one last couple: Duncan and Courtney. She ran to them as fast as she could and saw that they were still making out. They were probably gasping for air though. They were locked in a deep kiss, and Duncan's eyes were telling Julie that he knew this was going to happen. After all, he had heard the thuds of campers falling to the ground and Izzy coughing, so he had Courtney pushed against the window.

"Take a deep breath." And he pushed his lips to hers, and Courtney didn't put up a fight for a second. When Julie got to them, Courtney was pulling on Duncan's hair and Duncan's hands were pressed hard against the window. Julie allowed herself a brief smile before she heard thudding footsteps.

"Fast acting knockout gas. What, did you honestly think we'd keep you up for the ride?" Chris chuckled. Julie snapped her head around and faced Chris, now clad in an olive green gas mask. If looks could kill…well, that saying is so trite, so you get the picture. "This is just a little payback for your unexpected twist on me. You got my hair wet on national TV! You've been pulling the strings too long." Duncan heard all of this and was very puzzled as to why Chris said that Julie was pulling the strings. Julie lunged at Chris, attempting to pin him to the ground, but she was kneed in the stomach and collapsed to the ground, courtesy of Chris. He stepped on her outstretched fingers as he walked over to Duncan and Courtney. Julie shut her eyes and bit her tongue in pain. "Now, stop making out and let go of each other!" Chris attempted to pull Duncan and Courtney apart, but Duncan wound his arms around Courtney's now trembling body and fell backwards onto the seats. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. Oh CHEEEEEFFFFFF!!!" Chris called in a sing-song voice. Chef swerved off to a rest stop nearby, sloshing the campers to the ground. Julie could hear Chef's thudding footsteps, even louder than Chris's. This time, Chef stepped over Julie and went over to Duncan and Courtney. With Chris's help, they pulled the two apart, after slapping Duncan on the forehead 50 times and then Chris and Chef pulled the two apart like a game of tug-o-war. A loud smacking noise echoed throughout the bus. Courtney screamed as loud as she could and started to hit Chris's back and kick her legs into Chris's stomach. They did no good. Chris was now carrying her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Julie took this time to sneak away out of the aisle.

Duncan was still holding his breath, but then Chef threw Duncan to the ground. Duncan screamed, and in no time, he was out cold. Julie saw his eyes close, and could've sworn she heard Duncan whisper, "Save Princess." Julie got up to tackle Chef, but Chef sensed this (he was in the Marines remember?) and kneed her in the stomach again. Julie made a 180 degrees turn and Chef kicked Julie in the back—hard. She had enough strength to make another 180 degrees turn and landed face flat right next to Duncan. She played knocked out for a few moments to trick Chef and Chris and regain her strength, and then started crawling to the front of the bus. It was made even more difficult by the fact that Chef was driving once again. Chris put Courtney down on two chairs near the front.

"Duncan, help me." Courtney whispered.

"He's out cold. He's not getting you anytime soon!" Chris laughed. "Let's go Chef. They're knocked out now." He walked out of the aisle to see Julie glaring up at him with as much strength as she could muster, for she was now a little light-headed from not breathing. "Just won't quit will you? Well, I didn't want to do this, but you're not passing out anytime soon, and I need to make that now." Julie saw his fingers out and ready to do a Vulcan neck pinch on her, and she quickly stood up.

"I'm not giving you that satisfaction." Julie said through clenched teeth. That was the last thing Courtney heard as she was sobbing, and she passed out. Chris grabbed Julie's shoulders and pulled them to him and kneed her in the stomach a third time. She was definitely getting bruises from this. Julie collapsed face first onto the ground. She was now breathing hard, and before she passed out, she heard Chris.

"We're going to have to take—" But Julie heard no more than this because she was out cold on the bus floor.

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Me: Short, but you gotta admit there's some action in there.

Noah: So let me get this straight: after about three knees to the stomach and a kick in the back, Julie is knocked out, and all it takes for Duncan to be knocked out is Chef pushing him to the floor? Wow, I'd hate to be him right now.

Duncan: I'd hate to be YOU right now! I'm going to get you for that!

Me: You better run Noah! GO DUNCAN!

Julie: *moaning* You just love to hurt me in these fanfics don't you?

Me: This is the first time. Don't get all worked up. But I have decided to portray Chris in a VERY DARK LIGHT. I think it suits him, even though it means being more viscious and putting your lives at risk for ratings, but hey, I'm not in these stories. Not my problem. Okay, I HATE to be cliché in my own author's notes, but the twenty-two other campers are right behind me, aren't they?

Julie: *nods* Uh-huh.

Me: *turns around and starts backing away* Oh, hi guys! Hey, anything I said about putting your lives at risk for ratings is totally null and void now. Um...there's no need to get out knives and pitchforks and torches and form an angry mob against me or anything. I suggest doing it against Chris. Better yet, find the writers of the show. They're the ones who came up with the sadistic host idea; I'm just fleshing it out. *ducks in fear* Please don't hurt me.

Izzy: Oh, we won't hurt you.

Me: *perks up* Really?

Izzy: No. We'll only maim you.

Me: That's worse!

Izzy: Exactly. GET HER!!!!

Me: YAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! SAMMY, SIC 'EM!!!

Julie: Review while a dog goes against twenty-two armed teenagers! Stay tuned for TOTAL...DRAMA...ACTION! Starting January 8 on the Teletoon website. Bye! *under breath* My stomach still hurts. Damn.


	7. Captivity

**A/N: **So now you'll really get to see Chris and more of his dark side. And guess who's coming back? It's your favorite intern Chase Rocks (heh, do you realize how stupid that sounds?)! And he's back to help! But who? So read and review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

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**Third Person POV**

Chris had really said, "We're going to have to take Courtney away from the others. Julie still doesn't know that we never aired the bit where she put Courtney on season two. We'll have to keep her with us until we see fit to let her back in." Chef nodded in agreement. "Great. Now I have to prop everyone up in their seats before they wake up. This is going to be a long drive…" So Chris propped everyone up in their seats. Owen was a bit difficult, but Chris still got by. Once they arrived at the location for the second season, an abandoned film lot that was owned by the now extinct Dreammount Studios, Chef unpacked the campers' entire luggage and put it in front of the gate. Chris slung Courtney over his shoulder and walked out of the bus with Chef to their separate headquarters.

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Courtney's POV

My vision is starting to come back to me. I can see a bunch of glowing screens, like in a surveillance center. A guy was sitting in front of the screens. He swiveled around in his seat and faced me.

"Hey Chris! She's awake!" Chris walked in, smiling deviously. My vision became as clear as day once I saw Chris. I was in his surveillance room where he watched everyone. I try to get up, but can't because I'm bound to the chair. I learned that the hard way with the rough rope rubbing against my skin. My senses are starting to come back to me.

"Do I even have to ask where I am?" I snarl.

"Well, I'm shocked." Chris caustically gasped. "You're in our headquarters where we watch everyone. We knocked you out with knockout gas and brought you here."

"Where's everyone else?" I snapped my head around everywhere. No one else was here, not even Duncan. He'd know how to get out of this. I have no sharp weapons on me. I'm not breaking out anytime soon. In the back of my head though, I reminded myself that I'll have to bring this up if I ever sue him again. "What am I doing here? Chris, ANSWER ME!!!"

"What? Oh right, might as well. We never aired the bit where Julie put you on season two, but we mistakenly listed you as one of the contestants. Interns aren't all competent."

"Hey! I told you I was sorry!" The guy in front of the screens yelled.

"And I'm the producer Chase! That means you do what I say!" Chris yelled at Chase. "I still don't know how you survived that drop into the lake with the man-eating sharks. But you're still under my contract. So you do what I say!" Chris cleared his throat. "Anyways, HE mistakenly listed you as one of the contestants, but then that gave off a huge amount of buzz as to whether or not you'll be on. We're going to milk this for every single bit of ratings we can get. So we had to take you here before the cameras started rolling. You'll be back with Duncan and everyone else soon enough, but until then, you'll have to stay here. And Chase, don't get any funny ideas of letting her out of that chair, whether or not you're tricked into it. Bye Courtney!" Chris laughed and left. The others were already waiting outside the gate to…somewhere.

"It's a film lot." Chase said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"That's where the second season is taking place. An abandoned film lot. There are movie-based challenges this season, and you're staying here for six weeks instead of eight. The film lot used to belong to Dreammount Studios before they were bought over by Amber Films a few years back. They found no use for this film lot, so they abandoned it. Chris was able to use it for free, or at least, practically free."

"Okay." I said. I now have an edge over everyone else! I bet Julie doesn't know about this!

"Listen to me. Chris is much more vicious then he'll ever let on to any of you and your buddies, including your boyfriend. He might think he can scare Chris, but trust me, Chris is much scarier. Look at how he treats me. He sacrificed countless interns last season. Don't think he'll do it again, and for that matter, to you and your friends. He's in it for the ratings, so be careful around him. If that knockout gas incident were caught on camera, he could be sued for everything he's got. Remember what I've just told you, including the stuff you'll be expecting for the show." Memories started flooding back to me. The bus…then I realized Chase had called Duncan my boyfriend.

"We're not dating."

"Hm?" This guy wasn't getting anything I was saying.

"Duncan and I aren't dating!"

"You're pretty much dating. You just haven't gone out on an official date. Look, it might seem like we're isolated, but we're much closer to civilization than any of you will know—or will now know. There's a small rest stop with restaurants and gas stations and the like down the road that leads here. You and your boyfriend can always go down that path. Mind you, you'll have to be careful, but I'm sure your boyfriend has no problems breaking out."

"You don't have to tell me this. Why are you though? You're putting your job and possibly your life on the line! And how can I be so sure you're not lying?" I turned away. After a few rustling papers, Chase pulled out a map.

"This is where we are." He pointed to a red circle drawn on the map. "This is where the rest stop and the restaurants are." He pointed to a red dot. "It's where I get my food when I'm working late at night." He let out a wry chuckle. "It's fun doing my part to betray Chris. Besides, I had a change of heart after the first season, back when I almost died. I used to be a lot like Chris, but I hate him for making me lose my concentration."

"Well, it's your fault for losing your concentration and falling down." I said. This guy was starting to crease me.

"I would've been shark bait too had someone not saved me."

"A guardian angel?" I asked. Stupid, I know, but anything's possible.

"No. Julie." I almost fell backwards from shock.

"She saved you?"

"From what I learned, after she saved me and went on her way, she was hiding behind you guys at the gorge. When I say "you guys", I mean you and your boyfriend."

"Okay, can we stop calling him boyfriend? It's Duncan. Duncan!"

"Fine, fine." He chuckled. "But that's why you were surprised during your um…moment. She was hiding behind, waiting to take a shot at the eagles. I've said too much already, but I really do hope it helps." We sat close to each other in silence, our breathing and the hum of the surveillance system filling the air.

"There's no chance of me getting out anytime soon, is there?" I asked.

"Not a chance. I want to see how this plays out, so yeah. And one more thing: Julie's hiding much deeper, darker secrets than you could possibly ever know."

"You're not telling me?"

"I'm not ruining the surprise. Besides, you're smart. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough." He smiled and turned back to the screens, where the gate had started to creak open.

* * *

Me: CRAP!

Julie: What?

Noah: Another OOC mistake on your part?

Me: Maybe for Courtney--

Duncan: The only reason she's "OOC" is because I've finally started to rub off on her.

Courtney: Duncan!

Noah: Get a room before you two start making out.

Julie: Too late.

Me: That's gross man. CRAP!

Julie: Okay, what is it this time?

Me: I made a New Year's resolution yesterday, and--

Noah: Isn't it a bit late for that?

Me: I can make resolutions when I want to! Anyways, my New Year's resolution was to stop using dude, dudette, man, whatever, and plural forms of those words in my sentences because it's starting to become a habit.

Julie: And you broke it?

Me: I broke it about thrity times yesterday. Dudes and dudettes, I'm so pissed about that man. Ugh, whatever, I'll just try again.

Noah: You just broke your resolution again.

Me: Dude, don't make me force sweaty socks juice down your throat. That's from Total Drama Comeback! If you haven't heard about it dudes and dudettes, you're being deprived of something awesome man!

Noah: And again.

Me: DJ, bring the juice here!

Noah: AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! *runs off*

Me: That's better. Review peoples, and the Teletoon premiere on the website is only two days away! January 8. Don't forget it! Yes, I know this A/N is bordering on long, don't remind me in a review 'kay?


	8. Mysteries and Explosions

**A/N: **We're taking that same timeframe and putting it in Julie's POV! But it all ends with a gate creaking open. My job ROCKS! Anyways, read and review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

**Alert, alert alert! PLEASE READ! **I am seriously considering posting a new fanfic. What I recommend you do is find the book **Beauty** by Nancy Butcher and read it. It's really, really short, around 170 pages (168 to be precise). That is the story I will base my fanfic off of. If you've ever read Izzy Green a Ghost Story, you'll get a rough idea of what I'm planning on doing. This piece will have 27 chapters, just like the actual book, and will use TDI characters. Any character suggestions would be extremely helpful. However, you will have to PM me if you want to help me in character choosing, and only then will I send you a list of characters for you to submit your suggestions back to me. But that's if you haven't read the book. I have a rough idea of who I want in which parts, but I am not so sure for a few parts. There are a total of twenty listed characters that I will use TDI characters for; others will possibly be OCs of my own creation. I have already started and am using certain TDI characters in certain roles which will be subject to change if anyone wants to help. Please, if someone reads this, I implore--nay, I INSIST that you help me. This is also in my profile.

**One more thing eh. **The first episode of TDA is now up! It's January 8 people, and though I didn't see too much (dang thing kept freezing up, maybe I should've waited for it to buffer) the theme song is HILARIOUS! Still the same in terms of the song itself, but the images are EXTREMELY FUNNY! And so far, most of my theories have been proven correct, except for the slight tweaks I made to it. Turns out the case that was eaten by the shark didn't have the million dollars. Who has mad predicting skills eh?! And Courtney's fate is still questionable...let's just say she's in the theme song (and giving Duncan a kiss *insert eye rolling and groans here*), but not in the character description section of Teletoon. Something fishy eh?

**Edit: **Turns out that they've banned me from seeing the first episode of TDA--and other videos they have--because I'm not from Canada! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! So I hereby put this story on hiatus, and it will possibly be on hiatus for a very long time, until the beginning of summer of '09...or until I find a way to watch the episodes. That means I can now work on my new fanfic Beauty! So expect a new fanfic out soon!

**

* * *

**

My POV

I was in a daze. I was sitting, of course, but we were still on the bus and Chris and Chef were nowhere to be found. I sat up, but then clutched my stomach. Why am I in such pain? I lifted up my top to see a nasty black and blue bruise concentrated in one spot on my stomach. That's when my memories started flooding back to me. I was kneed in the stomach three times, twice by Chris, all to save the others, specifically Courtney. Chris and Chef are going to pay for that. I was the only one on the bus though. I looked outside the window and saw everyone else waiting with their luggage. I walked out of the bus to the rest of the group.

"Have a nice nap Julie?" Heather asked snidely.

"Hmph. How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"We don't know. I remember getting on the bus and sitting down, but it's just blurry after that. I guess we all took a nap on the way here. But ask the others. They've been complaining about being in pain." Gwen said.

"It feels like I landed flat on my face." Heather said.

"Whoever made me get a huge ache all over my left side's gonna pay." Leshawna threatened. Lindsay, Beth, Owen, and Izzy all had some sort of residual pain left. Harold also felt like he had been folded in two.

"Yeah. I have a nasty bruise on my stomach, but my back aches too." I'm not about to tell them about how Chris and Chef used knockout gas to make us all fall asleep. I scanned the campers quickly, and then pulled my iPhone out of my backpack. Not a scratch. I tried to figure out where we were, and soon enough, I got an answer. "We're in a different part of Ontario. It's Mississauga. That means we're nowhere near Muskoka. At least two hours away." I looked at the gate. "Hm, big gray buildings, paved streets…it's a film lot."

"A film lot?" DJ asked.

"Yeah, where companies shoot TV shows and stuff. This is probably where we're staying. Probably abandoned. How else could he get this place? You all know he's stingy when it comes to money."

"At least it's better than that crappy campground." Trent commented.

"It might be just as worse. This place has probably been abandoned for a few years. There's no way our lodgings can be better than camp."

"You might be wrong." Trent argued.

"Ugh, whatever! My face feels awful, and we've been waiting out here for at least half an hour! I need to feel silk sheets again!" Heather screamed. She ranted on like this for a few seconds, and then my eyes fell on the other campers. Harold wooing Leshawna, Geoff and Bridgette making out, Gwen and Trent looking at Heather as though they were about to kill her, Lindsay and Beth still talking, Justin looking at himself in a portable mirror, DJ petting Bunny, Owen and Izzy making out, and Duncan pacing about. Wait, DUNCAN?! He looked pissed too.

"Duncan?!" I ran up to him. "Are you okay?"

"Okay? No, I'm just fine. OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY!!!" Duncan screamed right in my face. Everyone fell silent and the couples that were making out abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't believe this! You don't remember either?! Chris?! Chef?!" He was about to blow the secret! I pulled him close to me so that we were right in each other's faces.

"Listen to me. You are not going to tell them that we were knocked out using knockout gas! I prefer to leave that moment back in the bus." I hissed at him angrily.

"No one believed Izzy when she told us! Their memories didn't come hurtling back to them, but mine did. I'm not about to let Chris and Chef get away with this." Duncan hissed back. I remained silent for a few moments. Should I tell them? They wouldn't believe me for a second, how I was the only fighter left standing before Chris and Chef's gas got to me. But hey, I guess it was worth a shot.

"Fine." I faced everyone else. "Okay, I'm going to start off by saying that Izzy was right. We were knocked out with fast acting knockout gas, courtesy of Chris and Chef. I don't know why they did it, but they did it to us. You all passed out, and Izzy was one of the last to pass out. She alerted me about the knockout gas even though I was already holding my breath. I got over to Duncan, and a huge fight ensued. I was kneed in the stomach twice, once by Chris and another time by Chris, all to save you guys. Duncan was thrown to the floor while I was hiding and passed out soon afterwards. That was when I was kneed in the stomach by Chef, and then he kicked me in the back. I got to Chris, who was trying to get me to pass out using a Vulcan neck pinch, but I avoided it. He then pulled me to him, and guess what he did?"

"He kneed you in the stomach—again?" Gwen asked.

"Exactly. After that, I passed out. And if you want proof, here." I lifted up my shirt. "I've got a huge bruise where I was kneed in the stomach." I turned around with my shirt still lifted. "This is the bruise I got when Chef kicked me to the ground. I don't know why they did what they did, but I'm not going down without a fight."

"Isn't it obvious why they knocked us all out? He obviously doesn't want us to see something." Leshawna commented.

"Good point. I guess the violence was uncalled for, but having us all passed out during his illicit acts would be the best way to get rid of witnesses besides death, and he wouldn't kill us right before a second season." Harold put his finger in the air in a matter-of-factly way.

"But what?" Trent asked.

"No one's realized this yet? Really? I thought you'd see it Julie, but no." Duncan suddenly talked.

"Well, if you're so smart, what do you think was Chris's reasoning behind all of this?" I pointed at him.

"Court's missing."

"What?" I asked.

"Courtney's missing. I don't know where she is." Duncan explained. I quickly scanned everyone and sure enough, Courtney was nowhere to be seen. Not even her luggage was here. I was about to offer a counter-theory when the gate to the film lot suddenly creaked open.

* * *

Duncan: Did you lose some brain cells or something during that fight Julie? Because you sounded really stupid back there.

Julie: Well, so did you! Mr. Tough my ass! You were unbelievably worried for Courtney, admit it! You were a big, mushy creampuff! I can use that phrase, right Leshawna?

Leshawna: Yeah whatever. I'm still trying to keep Harold off my back, so don't interrupt me!

Harold: I WILL WIN YOU BACK!

Heather: What a hopeless nerd.

Me: Who invited her?!

Julie: Don't look at me! C'mon Izzy, we're going to be bouncers!

Izzy: Yeah! That reminds me of this one time--

Noah: SHUT UP! NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR RELATIVES!

Izzy: Tough crowd. Anyways, HI-YAH! *Izzy and Julie chase Heather away with a multitude of kicks and jabs*

Me: Now that that's done, review please. PLEASE!!! TDA on Teletoon website! We'll get into the real stuff now!


	9. MONSTER MASH!

**A/N: **I finally found a way to watch TDA! Yes! But either way, I have almost all of the episode typed up. I would have it all done sooner, but I have a lot of additonal stuff in it. A LOT. So yeah. It's to add a plot to this. Haha! Oh, you know the movie Hancock? The superhero movie with Will Smith in it? Yeah, I made a refernce to it! See if you can find it! Remember, a refernce could be naming it, altering a quote, having a character doing something reminiscent of that movie, whatever! It's in there, so find it! Also, there's a 6teen reference in here! See if you can find THAT! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

* * *

And out drove Chris on a tram, like the ones I rode on in Disneyland back in LA…I miss home…

"Dude! It's about time!" Duncan yelled. Everyone was clearly perturbed by Chris, but Chris didn't notice.

"Hop on everyone! Come on people, we haven't got all day." Chris yelled in his skater drawl. I will SO kill him in his sleep when I get the chance. But I boarded the tram anyways and sat near "This cart's rented by the hour." Cheapskate.

"Izzy! Run!" Owen called out suddenly. I turned my head to see Izzy NOT running to catch up with the tram. "I mean Kaleidoscope." Right, Izzy's new name. I better call her Escope. Could be useful in challenges—as long as I get her name right. I looked around and saw that Beth no longer had braces, and therefore no lisp. Hm, strange how I didn't notice that…

"No one leaves Escope behind!" Iz—I mean, Escope gave out a Tarzan yell and started running after us.

"Welcome to the set of TOTAL DRAMA ACTION!" He faced a camera and was talking to it, and of course, wasn't watching the road.

"WATCH THE ROAD CHRIS!" I yelled. He ignored me. Now he's definitely going to die in his sleep.

"This season's hottest reality show will be shot here on an abandoned film lot!" The tall grey semi-circle buildings and paved roads brought me back home to LA, and it didn't remind me of happy times.

"Does this mean we're going to be in the movies?" Lindsay gasped. And here I thought she finally got smarter.

"No, it means you're going to be on TV. And DON'T INTERRUPT ME! EVER!" He flicked Lindsay's nose, which prompted her to say sorry. Oh, I will every single chance I can get! I forced myself to start laughing uncontrollably. "Can you stop?!"

"And what if I don't want to?!" I kept laughing. Chris glared at me through his rear-view mirror, and I just stuck my tongue out at him like a little preschooler. Quite a few campers gasped at this. Oh yeah baby, I'm back and here to win!

"Okay! Let's go! And interrupt me one more time Julie, and I'll see to it that someone doesn't come back anytime soon." I stopped laughing at this. He didn't mean…? No. No, no, no, NO!!!!!!

"YOU BASTARD! YOU KIDNAPPED COURTNEY DIDN'T YOU?! YOU USED KNOCKOUT GAS TO KNOCK ALL OF US OUT JUST SO YOU COULD KIDNAP HER! THAT'S LOW, EVEN FOR YOU CHRIS! AND I'VE GOT NEWS FOR YOU: I remember. And so does Duncan and Izzy and everyone here. You jammed your knee into my stomach twice and gave me a huge bruise!" I lifted up my shirt to show him my bruise. He winced, possibly due to the fact that everyone knew that he had committed a heinous act. But he tried to deflect suspicion in vain.

"Me? Kidnap Courtney?" Chris laughed. "What could I possibly gain from that? The viewers all know that she's coming back! You know, you're both a lot alike. I mean, you're both uptight and are massive bitches!" I could almost feel Duncan twitch behind me, ready to charge at Chris for talking smack about his girlfriend. I decided to do something else entirely.

"Call me a bitch…one…more…time." I snarled.

"Didn't get it the first time? Okay, I'll go really slowly. B…i…t…c…h…bitch." Chris started laughing, but was soon silenced because in a flash, I had gotten out of the tram and throttled Chris's throat.

"CALL ME THAT ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL MAKE FUCKING SURE THAT YOU CAN'T SPEAK A SINGLE WORD OUT OF THAT MOUTH EVER AGAIN!" I yelled at him. I dropped him to the ground. "Now, do you have that down MAGGOT?!"

"Y-y-y-yes!" He whimpered in fear. He scrambled back to the cart and started driving. I was already seated at the back of the tram near Duncan and next to Geoff and Bridgette, who were now making out, by the time Chris had started driving again. We were now in a western film set.

"You'll be spending the next six weeks here competing against each other in challenges and for rewards. All for the chance to win some MONSTER CASH!"

"Yeah baby! I'm gonna win me some MOOLAH!" Owen screamed in delight. I glared at Chris, who said nothing, but was probably about to shush Owen. Chris turned back to the road.

"Like last season, one team will win, and the other team will watch one of their own make their way down the dreaded Walk of Shame to the Lame-osine." Chris pressed a button, and his windows rolled up. I saw some smoke, and I closed my eyes and covered my nose and mouth. I heard an engine chugging and everyone coughing.

"You couldn't have sprung for a better ride?" Trent asked.

"No. Now since we don't have the outhouse to dump your deepest darkest secrets in, you'll dish the dirt in our new makeup confessional!" We passed by a small trailer.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam-Makeup Trailer

"Oh my gosh! A whole trailer full of makeup?!" Lindsay screamed in joy. Chris's assistant Tawny offered Lindsay some lipstick. "Oh sorry, I don't use that brand." Off-camera, Tawny stuck her tongue out at Lindsay.

* * *

After continuing on for a bit longer, we passed by a faded orange tent. It looked utterly shabby. "Coming up is the Craft Services tent catered by Chef." Chef then ran out of the tent with a butcher knife in one hand and chasing a raccoon. Lindsay was about to take a picture when Chris suddenly hit the gas. I lurched forward in my seat a lot, but didn't fall to the ground. Thank God. "If you survive Chef, you'll have to make it through our dramatic awards ceremony, where all but one loser will receive a gilded Chris award." We drove up to an amphitheater with an Oscar-like stage. I HAD to laugh at the gilded Chris award remark. But I snickered for a long time. I'll have to use the confession cam later.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"The gilded CHRIS?" Gwen chuckled for a second. "Ugh, what a narcissist! Don't get me wrong; I still want one."

--Later--

"The GILDED CHRIS?!" Julie laughed so hard she started crying, leaning back and forth in her seat, and banging her fist on the makeup table, making quite a mess of the makeup.

"My God! Now I have to clean all of that!" Tawny yelled off-camera.

"Sorry! Anyway, even though he is a total sadistic, narcissist, skater talking freak, that's extremely low, even for him. Oh, I'm talking about how he jammed his knee into my stomach twice and kidnapped Courtney! I wonder where she is. But still, what's next, we're going to be offered gilded CHEFS?!" She paused for a moment. "Oh, that'd be pretty gross, never mind." The first part of after she said sorry was edited out by Chris himself and was replaced with when she asked if gilded Chefs were next.

* * *

"You done now dude?" Geoff asked.

"I have an eject button…and I'll use it." Chris nagged.

"Please! Continue." Geoff covered up his remark.

"Whoa! Cool! Is this a dream?" Harold remarked about the set we were driving though. It was about being on the moon and seeing Earth in the starry sky. How typical.

"No Harold, it is not! But you may soon wish it was!" What does Chris mean by that? We were now driving though a city set. "A few months ago, this was home to a high budget monster movie, until the star began experiencing some…uh…difficulties?"

"Oh no!" Lindsay gasped. "Did she have like, a mental breakdown?"

"Actually, the star wasn't a her…it was an animatronic monster!" Chris attempted to scare us. I looked around the city again. Now there were bite marks in every single building around us, even the trees!

"What happened to it?" Gwen shyly asked.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Gwen heaved a sigh. "In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have asked that question."

--Later--

"Weird Goth girl HAD to ask that question! Just HAD to!" Heather screamed.

--Way Later--

"Oh yeah. Not the best thing to ask when you're around Chris." Julie stated matter of factly.

* * *

There was suddenly a loud roar that echoed throughout the entire set. I covered my ears lightly.

"Come on dudes! He's yanking our chains!" Duncan tried to dismiss what was happening. Then I heard some robotic noises, like a robot moving mechanically. A tail knocked down a black spire and Chris suddenly hit the brakes. After quite a few yells of surprise and DJ screaming his head off, the dust cleared.

"Since we're on a film lot, this season's challenges will be based on movie genres. Today's genre: the MONSTER MOVIE!" Chris's little talk was followed by another roar. He laughed, "Duh." The monster walked by, and it was green, orange, and scaly. It had a weird face and huge eyes the size of a large train terminal clock. DJ stuttered, and then fainted. Chris poked him with a stick.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"He fainted? Wow, that's--that's really lame man." Duncan heaved a sigh. "I miss you Princess."

--Later--

"The monster movie? You have GOT to be kidding me!" Heather screamed. The same lines were uttered by Leshawna, Gwen, Trent, Lindsay, Bridgette, Geoff, and Julie, all with different intonations and added words.

* * *

"Down for the count! For your first challenge, everyone must get from here to the cast trailers while our state of the art monster prevents your every move." Chris then laughed. "Chef has kindly offered to control the beast, AAAAANNNNNNNDDDDD…ACTION!" I started scooting towards the exit very slowly so Chris didn't catch me. "Uh…that means go." I then leapt off the tram and ran as fast as I could in the group of the other campers. When we were nearing a beach set, I stopped and left the group and hid in another set a few paces away. It was dark inside, so I turned on the light. It was just a normal switch near the door, like in my room back home. Spotlights flickered on, and I soon saw a barren, gray movie set. I walked in a little bit further, and I saw two huge pools. One was just a pool with crystal clear blue water, and the other had a surfboard over it. I went over to that pool and looked inside, only to find a shark lurking in the depths below. I scampered away from it as fast as I could. Chris must've brought a few of those sharks from camp here! This is bad…really bad. I sat down in a director's chair and looked around one last time before I fell asleep.

**

* * *

**

Third Person POV

Meanwhile, with the other campers, Owen and Izzy were trailing behind, running with each other.

"Whoa baby! Did you see that?!" Owen yelled to Izzy. The monster (aka Chef) had just crushed a sand castle in the beach set they were currently running through. "That thing is so cool!" Owen stopped while Izzy kept running. And back in the city set, DJ was still trying to calm himself down while Chris watched over him. Owen looked at Izzy, who was waiting for him, and saw that the hand of the monster was about to get her.

"Izzy, duck! DUCK!"

"GOOSE!" Izzy yelled. The hand slammed on her and somehow catapulted her into a cherry picker also on the set. She got up and yelled, "DO IT AGAIN!" Owen readily shook his head. And in a few seconds, the monster had taken Izzy to the prison, which was really a castle-like moon bounce.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Maybe the monster won't look for me in here." Owen whispered. "I love Izzy. Not like love love, but I think she's amazing. I just wish she'd notice me and not that dumb monster. HOW CAN I COMPETE WITH IT?! Sure, we're both big and we both eat a lot but it's really tall." Owen hid in the trailer for a few more moments before leaving. During Owen's whole speech, Tawny was literally ready to gouge her eyeballs out or gag herself with a spoon.

* * *

Also on the beach set, Geoff and Bridgette had stopped to make out on a beach towel under an umbrella while the monster was still hunting throughout the set. Gwen and Trent both ran by, and after a minute of running, they suddenly stopped.

"How are we supposed to find the actors' trailers anyway?" Gwen asked Trent.

"Follow the good-looking people!" Justin yelled to them as he ran by.

"Yeah! Follow Justin!" Beth also called out to them as she ran a little ways away from Justin. Gwen and Trent shrugged and followed after Beth.

* * *

Me: Oh, this is pretty long. Whoops!

Nikki: I think you're forgetting to introduce someone...

Me: Oh right! This is Nikki, aka dichabite, who helped me find the episode of TDA so I didn't have to go on hiatus for a long time! You've been a great help, and I'm planning on using your ideas for Julie next chapter! I promised her a role in my A/Ns for helping me out so much, and here she is!

Nikki: REALLY?! Cool.

Me: Yes, because you get to help Julie and Escope torture Courtney and Duncan when they get in fights!

Izzy: Yeah! That's me! Escope!

Julie: I'm Julie!

Me: And I'm Lane! And I'm telling you to review! That's right, all it takes is to click a button, type it out, and then submit it! And to whoever told me my A/Ns are funnier than my entire series: that's okay. I'm not a comedy writer, and these A/Ns just turn out funnier than the story itself sometimes. It's how life works, and it seems you're not okay with that. All right, it's your call.


	10. Making Out and Breaking Out

**A/N:** So here's part two. I think there's going to be four parts to this challenge, only because I'm trying to have as much out as I can before it goes on a hiatus again if the second episode doesn't come on time. There's going to be a few surprises coming up, some of which may not please you. Tawny and Blaire are my own OCs. Tawny has light skin and is a back-talking smart mouth. She has long straight honey colored hair often tied in a ponytail and hazel eyes. She wears dark blue jean capris, a white tank top with the words NOBODY'S PERFECT written in fancy script and glitter, and white Vans. She is Chase's girlfriend. Another one of Chris's assistants, Blaire, is an Asian girl with bangs and sleek black hair that is often up in two buns on opposite sides of her head. She is often seen wearing a grass green shirt with the words i eat rice in typewriter style font on it (she made the shirt herself), some dark blue skinny jeans, and Ed Hardy low top shoes without laces. Tawny and Blaire are two best friends and stay in the confessional listening to all of the campers' deepest, darkest secrets--unless they're on a break. Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

* * *

Duncan wasn't too far behind, but he suddenly stopped and ran back to Bridgette and Geoff making out under the umbrella. After he found where the camera was, he started talking into it.

"Um, I don't think this is the kind of action Chris had in mind!" He gestured a thumb toward them.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"What was I thinking? Duncan is so right. I like Geoff, but hello, I also like a million bucks!" Bridgette revealed.

--A Minute Later--

"Duncan's right! It's time to get our head in the game. BOO YAH!" Geoff gave the rock on symbol with both hands.

--Thirty Seconds Later--

Geoff and Bridgette have commenced a make-out session in the Confession Cam. They were on the chair, but they both collapsed out of the chair to the floor. During this entire ordeal, Tawny was seriously considering having her boyfriend Chase switch jobs with her. After all, he was the one who got her to work here for these next six weeks.

* * *

He then ran off the set as fast as he could and caught up to Gwen and Trent. For some reason, they were now in the city set again.

"This challenge isn't so bad! What, no explosions, no burning buildings, no BEARS?" Gwen asked out loud.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I love Gwen, but she has a bad habit of asking the wrong questions at the wrong times." Trent sighed. Tawny was nodding her head thinking, "You got that right you damned klutz."

--Later--

"I really shouldn't have asked that question. It's starting to become a bad habit." Gwen sighed.

* * *

"Maybe it's not in the budget." Trent commented. Chris had watched this from his surveillance center and proceeded to blow up a building and incinerate another building that had a bear in it, now very charred and roaring a mighty roar before chasing after Gwen, Trent, and Duncan. They screamed as they both started to come close to each other, the campers stopped dead in their tracks, and turned around and ran back the way they came, the bear roaring and chasing after them on its hind legs the whole time. Chris didn't know that there was a bear even at the film lot.

"I thought the bear was tranquilized and returned to its handler."

"Had one day left on its contract." Chef replied.

"NIIIICE!!!" Chris replied in joy. He was now thinking of the endless ways the bear had come into play last season and was trying to come up with ways to use the bear this season…besides what it was doing now of course.

Geoff and Bridgette had been hiding in the Confession Cam for the past half hour, the camera catching every single second of their make-out session. The monster pulled back the metal roof of the trailer, which solicited a long string of curses from Tawny, and grabbed Geoff and Bridgette to be taken to the moon bounce. What the monster didn't catch was that Leshawna had run right onto the beach set and past a green umbrella with Harold badly hidden underneath it. Despite every single fiber in her being telling her not to help him, she ran over to the umbrella and started yelling at it.

"Come on string bean, I hope you can run fast, we've got a challenge to win!" Harold came out from under the umbrella and ran ahead of Leshawna. She mentally cursed herself for saying we and his nickname. They were no longer a couple, and she didn't need Harold breathing down her neck crying about how much he wanted her back for six weeks.

"If I wanted to, I could run as fast as a prong horned antelope. It's the fastest land mammal after the cheetah." Harold remarked. Leshawna was about to tell him to shut up when a roar suddenly knocked them both down into the sand of the set. Before they could even get up, a scaly hand reached down and grabbed both of them. Leshawna tried to reason with the monster, but to no avail. They were both dropped into the moon bounce, where they bounced for a short while. "I love you!" Harold yelled.

"Say what now?" They stopped bouncing. Harold tried to say what he had yelled to her again, but then she stopped him. "You know what? Save it." She put a hand in his face and plopped down on the moon bounce.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Harold? Come on. I don't like him. I just got emotional when he got the boot last season. AND IF YOU SAY ONE MORE THING OUT OF THAT MOUTH YOU BACK-TALKING SMART ASS, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T SPEAK AGAIN!" Leshawna threatened Tawny, who had been telling Leshawna she was in denial (except Tawny kept using the pun about "The Nile--not the river.") about her love for Harold. Tawny kept her mouth shut until Leshawna left the trailer.

--Later--

"I WILL WIN YOU BACK LESHAWNA!!! JUST WAIT AND SEE!!!!!" Harold puffed out his chest, got up, and walked out of the trailer. As soon as Harold left, Tawny collapsed onto the floor laughing her ass off.

* * *

Duncan had left Gwen and Trent a while ago. While they were running away from the bear, he had suddenly stopped because he smelled something noxious. He didn't know what it was, and if it leads him away from the couple and the bear, hey, okay with him. He let his nose sniff and soon recognized it as clear as day. Back at Camp Wawanakwa (how long ago did THAT seem?) in the paintball deer hunt, back when his antlers were accidentally tangled with Courtney's and he was throwing a party in his head, he had been getting a drink of water from the river when he first smelled it—and heard it. It was a fart. He recognized it as Owen hiding up in a tree overhead, waiting to shoot him down. The smell was no different than then. He dove onto the sidewalk and went through one of the doors. Behind it was nothing except for a cardboard cutout of a red car. The building was just a façade. The smell suddenly got extremely pungent, and he peeked behind the red car and found Owen, cowering in fear.

"Owen! There you are!" Duncan yelled with fake joy (he made the joy seem as real as possible).

"Duncan! Hey! Boy, am I GLAD to see you!" He got up and laughed a whiny laugh.

"Mind if I hide with you? Just don't fart, or else." Duncan threatened. Just then, Owen farted. "Uh…I'll let you escape for that one." Duncan got behind the car and sat down with Owen in silence.

Gwen and Trent themselves were back on the beach again, and a tail had almost crushed them both. They turned around and started running. Justin kept running in the opposite direction and the monster grabbed him. Chef pulled him up close and immediately fell in love with his image. However, Chris made Chef put him in the moon bounce despite the fact that Chef wanted to let him go. Izzy looked away from Justin while Geoff, Bridgette, Harold, and Leshawna all stared at him until the next camper dropped in.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I'm not just another gorgeous face...and abs, and ass, and shoulders, okay? I'm also a master strategist. This year, I'm in it...to win it." Justin leaned back in his seat and put his feet on the vanity table. Tawny had been hypnoitzed by his gorgeousness until he mentioned that he was a master strategist.

"GET YOUR FEET OF THE TABLE BEFORE I CUT THEM OFF!!! And seriously, you? A master STRATEGIST?!" Tawny doubled over laughing at how ridiculous that sounded.

"Yes. Yes I am. And I'm in it...to win it." Justin took his feet off the vanity table. Tawny kept laughing, but then had an idea.

"Then wow me with your strategy." Tawny asked while getting ready a can of hairspray behind her back. Justin turned around and ripped off his shirt. Tawny pulled out the hairspray can and sprayed it in his eyes. He screamed and bolted from the trailer. "And that's how you defeat his strategy. Master strategist my ass." What Tawny didn't know was that this would soon happen again, except Justin would be looking in a mirror while Tawny was applying foundation to his face. Blaire, another one of Chris's assistants, would spray the same hairspray in his eyes, acting on orders from Tawny. This footage of Justin being duped by Tawny and Blaire would later go in the opening sequence of Total Drama Action.

* * *

Heather was running by the entrance to the same lot where Julie was sleeping in her director's chair—or so Julie thought. Lindsay had been hiding in a red bush by the same lot. The monster let out a roar so loud that Heather had to grab onto her wig while running to keep it from flying away. Lindsay suddenly got up from the bush and started clapping.

"You tell her! We don't like her!" Lindsay had thought that the roar was meant for Heather. Just a second later, Lindsay had been grabbed by the monster and Heather was found soon afterwards. Beth had run to them too late. She bade Lindsay farewell as the monster stomped away to the moon bounce. Heather's wig had "mistakenly" been kept on the monster's hand, but was soon returned to Heather. The last thing Chef needed was a whiny bitch up in his face about stealing her wig and not having another one.

Beth found DJ and pulled him up from his fetal position on the city set street. Gwen and Trent came running by and Beth decided to join them. DJ followed after Beth. What they didn't care to know at the moment while escaping from the monster was that Julie was no longer anywhere to be found in the entire film lot. She had been kidnapped in her sleep.

Meanwhile, just as Beth, DJ, Gwen, and Trent were cornered, Trent suddenly had an idea to escape and had everyone follow him. DJ was frozen, but Trent pulled him along. They all ran into a building thinking it was real when in reality, it was just a façade.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"That's what makes Trent such a great boyfriend. He's always thinking of others. It's one of the things I love about him." Gwen cowered sheepishly. Blaire was the only one in the trailer this time because Tawny was taking a break. "That and Trent's exceptional powers of observation." Blaire was gushing out "AWWWWWW!" and laughing at Trent's stupidity after Gwen left.

* * *

The monster found them and grabbed all four of them and dropped them in the moon bounce. What Beth, DJ, Gwen, and Trent didn't know was that this was the same building that had the same cardboard cutout of a red car in it, and behind that cutout were Duncan and Owen, safe for now from the monster.

"Hahaha, LOSERS!" Duncan laughed.

"Boy am I ever glad I'm not them." Owen remarked. While they had this little talk, the monster had tiptoed to the two boys and tapped Duncan on the shoulder.

Duncan turned around and went wide-eyed when he saw the monster right in his face. Owen cowered under the car yelling about how he was going to die. In a hand swipe and a roar, Duncan was clutched tight in the monster's hand and was dropped right in the moon bounce—after much cursing too explicit to be written here and trying to break free of course. Duncan was still thoroughly pissed when he was bouncing in the moon bounce waiting for the momentum to slow. He went over to a corner of the moon bounce after he finally stopped bouncing, thinking about how Courtney was doing at that very moment.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Chef is REALLY starting to crease me. I mean, he could've taken Owen and I, but he just had to take me, and only me!" Duncan huffed. "I can't believe this!" He banged his fist on the table. He was now thinking about how Courtney was doing.

"Easy there Duncan! Tawny's not going to like that mess when she gets back!" Blaire chided.

"Who's Tawny?"

"I AM! AND YOU MESSED UP THE TABLE! GET OUT OF HERE! MOVE IT MOVE IT MOVE IT!!!" Tawny yelled and sprayed more hairspray in his eyes. Duncan screamed and ran out of the trailer.

* * *

Owen, for some reason, had been spared. It didn't matter to Chef. What counted was that he was getting some well-deserved payback on the Juvie kid. Owen stopped screaming when the cardboard cutout fell off of him. Owen whooped in joy for being spared and ran out of the building façade. As soon as he closed the door, he was suddenly overcome with tiredness and started walking slowly and complaining about how he couldn't go on much longer. Then he collapsed. The monster's shadow was upon Owen. Owen noticed this and surrendered himself to the monster. After a snide remark from Chef, Owen was taken up in the monster's hand and was about to be squished into a thin line. However, there was a short circuit in the monster. Owen was so obese that Chef couldn't squish him and then a jolt of electricity was sent through Chef's entire body, causing the monster to stop in midair and let go of Owen. Owen whooped with joy for not being squished and winning the challenge, but then Chris reminded him in person that he still had to find the cast trailers. Owen groaned and started walking slowly.

* * *

Me: Yay! More laughs!

Duncan: MY EYES STILL HURT!!!

Justin: AND SO DO MINE!!!

Tawny: I'm telling you, that hairspray comes in handy when you're in a tight spot!

Blaire: Yeah!

Julie: Duped by a girl Justin? Wow, even I HAVE to laugh at that! *starts laughing*

Noah: The anti-me finally gets his just desserts.

???: You hurt Duncan!

Me: Nikki, can you see who it is? Probably another rabid fangirl or something.

Nikki: HELP ME! SHE'S BROKEN HER WAY IN HERE!

Me: Izzy? Right, she's not here. Julie?

Julie: *rolling on the floor laughing*

Me: Right. Review while I'm about to die at the hands of...someone.


	11. Food FINALLY!

**A/N: **Part three! Next chapter is going to have a little more of my own free writing. I'm probably going to work on getting out a new fanfic sometime soon, so I'll probably be juggling a lot of things! Yup! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

* * *

**My POV**

"HOLY CRAP! WHY IS IT SO COLD IN HERE?!" I suddenly got up and hugged myself. I was back in a dark room on a cold metal floor. Not again.

"We're trying a wintery theme. Do you like it?" Chase walked out of the shadows of the entire area, white and blue converse rat-a-tap-tapping on the metal floor. Chase was wearing a puffy white windbreaker and some dark jeans.

"Sure. Anyways, what am I doing here?"

"Well, you fell asleep in a set building, so I decided to bring you here. The judge is not taking any calls right now, sorry." It was as though he read my mind.

"Okay. But why did you bring me here?"

"I've got some news."

"Where's Courtney?"

"She's in good hands."

"She's with Chris! Chris is not good hands!"

"No! I'm the one who's been charged to take care of her. She's right now getting something to eat." An image suddenly popped up out of nowhere showing Courtney digging through a fridge and pulling out an apple, a strawberry yogurt, and a small carton of orange juice. She looked at the carton, smiled, then closed the fridge and left the image. With a snap of his fingers, the image disappeared. "Now, she doesn't know my real self. I have tried to make her as happy as possible, telling her where she and Duncan can get something to eat outside of here and help her cope with not being in the competition."

"When will she be in?"

"Only Chris knows the answer to that. Ever since you saved me, Chris hasn't trusted me as much as he would like to. I accidentally listed Courtney as a contestant when the part about you threatening Chris and bringing Courtney back never made it to the air."

"He lied to me? He never showed the world what I did?! THAT FUCKING BASTARD! I SWEAR ON ALL THAT IS HOLY THAT I WILL CUT HIM INTO LITTLE PIECES AND THROW HIM IN THE NILE RIVER!"

"Calm Julia. Calm. Anyway, she is extremely worried for Duncan. He's been missing her, only confessing to the new confession cam. Two star-crossed lovers." Chase sighed. "Sorry. I'm a hopeless romantic. I was extremely worried for your safety, so I brought you here to escape from Chef."

"How sweet." I rolled my eyes. "I think I'm going to cry. Why did you BRING ME HERE?!"

"We have some bad news: Chris is pushing for a third season. Not only that, if you haven't noticed yet, your form cannot last forever. Did you count how many times you've yelled in someone's face? The old Julia would've done that, not the new Julie we have created. We fear that we might not be able to keep you here for another season without erasing your memory of the past two seasons or erasing everyone else's memories of you. You have six weeks to think about it, but it really boils down to two questions: would you rather keep your memories of working with them but they won't remember you or would you rather erase your own memories of the past two seasons but have everyone else remember you and try to jog your memory? By the way, these erasures are permanent. They can't be triggered back or given back, sadly. It's one of the rules of reality: once something is lost or taken away, it cannot be replaced or brought back. We can have people try and teach you about what you did though. Anyways, here's a good example of this rule: if you didn't want someone to die. We only have the power for you to either see it through someone else's eyes or act out everything differently. No matter what you'd do, your loved one or person would die anyways."

"I'll think on it. I think I should get back." I looked around the dark room. "Uh…how do I get back? And can I be dropped off near the cast trailers?"

"I could always drop you off in the cast trailers."

"No thanks. Maybe a five minute walk away would do."

"Sure, whatever. Just let me make sure to scramble the cameras." He snapped his fingers twice, and before I knew it, the sun was setting and I could see a moon bounce in the distance. I got up, looked around at the city set, and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I was now in front of the mesh netting, staring at every camper that was in the moon bounce. Duncan was huddled in the far right corner though. I walked over to where he was and pulled down on the netting he was leaning on. He shook his head a bit and looked me in the eyes.

"Hey." I greeted.

"Hey." His eyes suddenly went wide open. "You…you're here! Guys, look who I found!" He suddenly leaned on the netting, now so close to my face I could feel his warm breath on my face. And boy, his breath stunk! Ew! "We'll talk later." The others all came to the netting and found me.

"You're here!" DJ called out.

"Didn't see that one coming." Gwen rolled her eyes. "But I'm glad you're okay." She smiled.

"Same here." Trent added. I scanned the netting. Bridgette and Geoff were making out, Izzy was…gone, but I wasn't telling them.

"Hey girl! So how did you do it?" Leshawna asked.

"Um…I just hid really, really well…" CRAP! That's the kind of response Julia would've made, not Julie! Chase is right!

"You…she…MADE IT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE MADE IT AND I DIDN'T!!!" Heather was screaming yet again. "OUT OF ALL THE FUCKING, NO GOOD—"

"Shut up Heather. Yeah, I made it. Just barely though. I had to worry every single second about being caught by the monster. I just kept running from façade to façade." I wasn't about to tell them I went into a set with sharks swimming in a pool and took a nap in the director's chair and was then saved by Chris's intern who is really an insider for the Reality Court. See, it sounds weird.

"So do you have any food?" Beth asked.

"Not here. It's in my luggage, which Chris took away." I politely lied. I had food in my backpack right now. I just chose not to give it to them. They'd be fighting like wild animals!

"Can you at least get us out of here?" Justin asked.

"Let me think...when I find my pocket knife, I'll let you all out." I started to rummage through my backpack. In reality, my pocket knife was in my pocket. "Nope. I must've left it in my luggage too."

"I guess we're waiting then." DJ said glumly. The sun had now completely set. Probably around 7 PM. Hm…I'll just wait. I waited for three hours. I was pacing about the moon bounce when someone called me. Duncan.

"Hey. Is it really true?"

"What?"

"Princess. She's with Chris?"

"That's my best bet. I'm also betting that he didn't show the part where I put her back on. He's milking this for ratings, I'm sure."

"He wanted to see me break down. Ugh, I've gone soft."

"Hey, come on. You haven't. You've just found someone you really like and don't want them to get hurt. Don't let that bastard think he's enjoying this. I don't know when, but I'm planning on giving him and Chef Hell when I can because they gave me a bruise on my stomach and a bruise in the back."

Duncan smirked. "Well then, count me in!" I heard a murmur. I signaled to him to be quiet.

"Get some sleep. You're going to need it for tomorrow." I left the moon bounce and lay down on the grass. Sleep soon came to me.

I woke up soon after. It seemed like I only slept for two hours. Hm, 9 AM. And Owen still isn't back? How disappointing. I'm going to have to get them out myself. "HEY GUYS! I FOUND MY POCKET KNIFE! IT WAS IN MY POCKET THIS WHOLE TIME!" I heard a few groans. I got out my pocket knife, aimed carefully, and threw it into the moon bounce. It hit with such force that air was being released right away. I pulled out my pocket knife before the moon bounce completely deflated. There were a few screams, but the loudest one I heard was uttered by all of the very awake teens.

"JULIE!!!!!" Except for Owen, who had just—arrived? He's here! Finally! He came running to me and grabbed me in a huge bear hug.

"Yes Owen, I'm glad to see you too! But really…ten and a half hours? You must've been pretty tired."

"You messed up my wig!" Heather screamed as she tried to pat down the hair of her wig.

"At least I got all of you out!" All of them pushed themselves out of the deflated moon bounce.

"Wait, where's Izzy?" Leshawna asked. Suddenly, the monster came stomping in and stomped one of the trailers. A hand went to ground level, and off came Izzy.

"Thanks for the date baby! Don't ever leave me, 'cause I'd find you." Izzy bade farewell.

"Should I even ask Izzy?" I asked her.  
"How did you manage to escape?" Duncan asked her.

"Monster and I had a romantic date. He doesn't take no for an answer." Izzy chuckled. "Pretty crazy, I can't even tell you yet."

"Whoa! Am I ever glad I chose to wait in THAT trailer!" Chris burst out of the normal trailer.

"You were in there the whole time?!" I screamed.

"Yeah! It looks like you all made it, guess I lose the bet. That was just a warm-up, good news is next challenge is a reward!" I wasn't cheering because his idea of reward is not necessarily my idea of reward. All of the other campers were cheering though. "It will be the boys against the girls with the winner getting the first pick of the trailers, where you'll be living for the next 42 days! You will have your choice of trailer A or trailer…yeesh." He grimaced at the sight of what once was trailer B. "Off to the Craft Services tent!"

"Ah yeah baby! I'm starving!" Owen cheered.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Boy am I ever glad I didn't go on that diet!" Owen laughed. "Being big can really have it's advantages! You know, uh, like when you are trying not to uh...be captured by an animatronic monster...for example. That's just off the top of my head." Tawny was shaking her head when Blaire suddenly elbowed her and gave an chiding look. Tawny put her head down.

--Later--

"My mom says I eat when I'm upset. And happy. And tired. Not to mention bored, gassy, morose, joyous, comatose, semi-conscious, humuncular." Owen had on a mustace he stole from one of the boxes lying on the floor, much to Tawny's displeasure. "Humuncular."

* * *

The extremely long walk to the tent was brutal! Once we got to the tent, I was thoroughly exhausted. That sleep did me no good. But Owen seemed to have his joy and gusto back.

"WOO HOO!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!!!"

"Dude, this chow looks like something out of a commercial!" Geoff commented.

"Oh can I star?!" Lindsay asked.

"Let's get this speed eating contest started!" Owen yelled.

"Uh…Owen…" I tried to warn him about the noxious ingredients it was probably made out of. There had to be a catch for food this good looking.

"On your marks…get set…COME TO PAPA!!!" Owen ran right for the two tables of food.

"Ugh, never mind." I rolled my eyes.

"No wait!" Chris yelled.

"Too late Chris. He's going to devour that buffet!" I yelled. And Owen did devour the buffet. He ate the turkey, pineapples, drank a pitcher of water, ate triangle sandwiches, and ate all of the rest of the food there, including the many slices of steak! After about 15 minutes of watching Owen ravage the buffet, he was on the table drooling.

"Owen, the man of many appetites. How was it?" Chris asked.

"The turkey was a bit…" He burped at that point. "Dry."

"Not surprising since the food was fake!"

"Fake?"

"Yep, just props made from foam core, silicone, sawdust, and wax. It wasn't a speed eating contest. It was a contest to find the key."

"What key?" Owen burped out a tiny key. "Oh, you mean this key?"

"That'd be the one."

"Does this mean I win?"

"Yes. Yes it does."

"ALL RIGHT!"

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Duncan laughed a good laugh and became extremely animated. "Did you SEE THAT?! THE DUDE ATE FOAM CORE AND WAX!!! Full props for that man." Tawny and Blaire were both thinking, "This guy is SO out of character."

--Fifteen Minutes Later--

"Way to find the key dude!" Geoff put two thumbs up. "I used to think Owen was just a party dude, but he's really a stand-up guy! PARTY ON!!!"

--Two Minutes Later--

"I could've done that you know. I just wasn't hungry." Harold said. Blaire was shaking her head and Tawny was laughing. "What? WHAT?! GOSH, FINE!" Harold got up and stormed out of the confessional. Tawny was silent for a few moments before going back to laughing, Blaire shaking her head all the way.

--Three Minutes Later--

"No wait wait wait there's still one more!" Owen burped for about the one thousandth time in three minutes, which prompted both Tawny and Blaire to run out of the confessional to barf.

--One Minute Later--

"Know what that boy has? Guts. Guts full of foam core and rubber, but guts just the same." Leshawna said, then got up to leave the confessional. Thrity seconds later, Blaire and Tawny were back in the confessional after barfing and brushing their teeth.

--One Hour Later--

"I can't believe he didn't listen to me!" Julie yelled. "God, what does it take to get someone to listen to me around here?! Damned teens..." Blaire was thinking about why Julie referred to them as teens with a negative connotation when she was a teen herself.

* * *

Me: Wh--who's there?

???: You should know who I am!

Harold: IT'S HER! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Me: Harold? Nikki? Izzy? Julie?

Gwen: DJ, Tawny, and Blaire are taking care of Nikki, who's now on life support. Izzy is off somewhere, and Julie went with her.

Me: What the hell?! I'm alone?! To face whoever is coming to get me?! *Gwen is already gone* Whoever you are, I'm not afraid!

???: Good. *walks out of the shadows* I'm sorry. Just don't cause Duncan to get hurt or anything, okay? Or I will--

Duncan: Will what...Princess?

Courtney: You're okay!!! *runs to Duncan and both start making out*

Me: Duh! I wouldn't have him die or anything! No, he's just got a little bit of sting of hairspray from Tawny. *sees Duncan and Courtney on the floor making out* Yeah, they didn't get a word I said. I need to bring her back to Chase. In the meantime, review please!


	12. Caught or Not?

**A/N: **Final part to the first challenge, but not the aftermath! And kara_bear1610, I highly suggest you read other stories here on this website! My top recommendations for TDI fanfics are The New School by DubbleV, Total Drama Comeback by The Kobold Necromancer, Total Duncan Island by melancolie, and More Than A Little Unexpected by Heirate Mich. You should make an account here! That way, you can write here and also review freely because some people don't allow anonymous reviews, although I do. You don't have to create an account, but it's a good idea. Anyways, this is the free write chapter! I just found out how to find how many people read my story, and I've gotta say...YOU CAN DO BETTER! I have never been more upset in my life!!! I WANNA BE FAMOUS AMONG THE WRITERS, NOT A DAMNED DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH!!!! UGH!!!!

...You thought I was SERIOUS?! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I was JUST KIDDING! No, I love that I've gotten over 400 hits in a week. Yeah, it's not a lot, but hey, better than none right? Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter, **IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE BOTTOM**.

* * *

But then Owen went back to feeling awful. Chef put in two Alka Seltzer tablets in a glass of water and prepared to give it to Owen. "Ah, don't worry. I'm cool. My mom says I've got a gut like a goat!" I then heard some gurgling noises. "Nope, call 911."

"You're gonna need it! Since you're the winner you get first pick of the trailers!" Chris and Chef left the tent.

"You're not gonna help us get Owen back to the trailers?!" I yelled after Chris.

"Nope! Good luck!" Chris laughed.

"Maybe if you give him the drink he'll perk right back up?" Beth asked me.

"Sure." I grabbed the water and poured it down Owen's throat. After a little gurgling, he gulped it down and got up.

"Haha! Let's go!" Owen jumped off of the table and ran out of the tent. We all looked at each other. Izzy ran out the tent, following Owen.

"No one leaves Escope behind!" Izzy yelled.

"Uh…all right." Duncan ran out. I shrugged.

"Let's just go." I ran out behind Duncan. I looked back and saw the others running to keep up with me. We arrived in front of the two trailers. Owen was already looking at both of them as though the trailers were livestock. The girls all grouped to Owen's left and the guys to Owen's right. Seeing these groups, I joined the girls' side.

"I choose…THE SQUASHED ONE!" Owen boldly proclaimed, which solicited a lot of complaints from the rest of the guys. "What? It has more character." I was already thinking about which bunk to sleep in, but then the monster crushed the other trailer with its foot.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

Izzy laughed. "I am SO over that monster!" Blaire was wide eyed with shock that she'd say such a thing (Blaire was surprised that Izzy was even into an animatronic monster) and Tawny was shaking her head sadly.

* * *

"Thanks a lot Chris! I know you did this!" I yelled to no one in particular.

"Um…what do we do now?" Lindsay asked. No one spoke, even I didn't speak.

"CONFESSION CAM!" Izzy yelled and then ran off. All of the others started to remember that they had something to confess, so everyone ran off to the makeup trailer. I shrugged and left the two squashed trailers to wander around our new home.

I walked through the beach set, the space set, and the western set. They all looked fine, except the space set was really small. I walked for a little while longer and looked at my watch. 12 PM. I stopped walking. I had inadvertently stepped into another dark building. I turned on the lights this time, and there was nothing there. I took a step, and then I felt the ground shake and heard machinery go to work. And before my eyes, stairs formed, leading downwards into a dark abyss.

"What's this?" I wondered out loud. Well, no harm in finding out. I whipped out my mini flashlight and went down the metal stairs to whatever was below.

**

* * *

**

Blaire's POV

"I mean, can you believe that guy Blaire?! Chase told me he and countless others have suffered by his hand." Tawny finished her ramblings after what seemed like hours. We were wandering the film lot because we were on break from the cameras.

"That's nice Tawny." I told her. I soon let out a yawn I couldn't stifle.

"I was rambling again wasn't I?" Tawny's my best friend, but she can be really crazy sometimes. And she always has a knack for ending up in trouble. At least most of it stopped when she became Chase's boyfriend.

"And don't start again!" I laughed. I then knocked into something and fell to the ground. "Wh-what just happened?"

"You klutz! You walked into a stage building!" Tawny laughed at me. Yeah, I had a problem like Tawny had hers: she has a tendency to talk back, prattle on endlessly, be crazy, and get into trouble, and I'm a big klutz and a video game addict. Well, we both are. Tawny helped me up. "I swear, you're like Bridgette's Japanese twin!"

"Very funny." I started to re-tie up my hair into two buns again. I wanted to make it look new, because I was sure it was messy.

"Stop. I like it when your hair is down."

"Well, I don't. I usually don't think straight with my hair down."

"At least put it in a ponytail. Better yet, just pigtails and not pigtail buns. Like…Ling Xiaoyu from Tekken 3!"

"What next, you want me to wear a mid-thigh length _qipao_ and some short shorts? Oh, and not to mention those ballerina fighting shoes? Not gonna happen."

"Pwease??? At least pigtails…" Tawny begged. I always give in when she does that…

"Fine." I tied both portions of my hair in ponytails. "There. Better?"

"Much!" I looked around.

"Why is the stage door open?"

"Huh?" She looked where I was looking. "It's not like Chris to leave a door open. And most of these have already been set up for the challenges coming up."

"Do you think someone's in there? Maybe Chris?" I asked her. It was not only our job to make sure to guard the confessional, but to make sure no contestants found out anything that was going to be happening in the future. Tawny flashed a wicked smile.

"No way. No way, no how!"

"But Blaireeeeee!!! I wanna see what's in there!" Tawny whined like a little child. Okay, we're both 21 and fresh out of university, but Tawny can seriously regress in age.

"All right, all right! Jeez! But only a peek! Then we leave." We both walked—I mean, I walked, Tawny ran—to the open stage door. What we found surprised both of us. There were metal stairs leading down into the darkness below.

"You wanna take back what you said about taking a peek?" Tawny asked me.

"Oh yeah. Let's look in here." I closed the door to the stage and whipped out a mini flashlight I always carried on a key ring on a belt loop of my jeans. "Let's go."

"That's the Blaire I know and love!" Tawny followed close behind as we gingerly stepped down the stairs.

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Third Person POV

While the other campers were busy confessing their hearts out (and without Tawny making fun of them every second), Julie, Tawny, and Blaire were down in a secret room of a stage building. After walking down the steps, Julie looked around. There was an eerie green hue throughout the whole sprawl, and it looked as though she were in a boiler room. It was surprisingly cold however. Her sneakers caused the metal floor around her to shake with every step she took. There was a mist forming, and it was coming from a few leaky pipes.

"Are those leaky on purpose?" Julie wondered out loud. She kept walking through the labyrinth of metal.

Meanwhile, Blaire was getting scared and stayed really close to Tawny. Blaire had given Tawny the flashlight once they went down the stairs. "Tawny, which challenge is this for? I know it's already been set up."

"I don't know. If we explore some more, maybe we'll find out." Mist had started forming all around the two, and Blaire gripped tightly to Tawny's free hand. What made the moment ten times scarier was that a pipe had collapsed around the corner of the hall they were in. It made both girls jump.

Julie jumped too, because she was right in front of the pipe. It took all of her self control to fight back a scream though. She looked up to see where the pipe had fallen, and sure enough, more mist was pouring into the area. Was there really nothing in those pipes but mist? Julie saw a door to her left however, and tried the metal handle. Sure enough, the door was unlocked, so she slowly creaked the door open. There was nothing in there, although something that looked like a metal furnace was near the back of the room.

Tawny and Blaire had rounded the right corner of the hall and found the pipe that dropped. They also found the same door that was open a tiny bit. As they reached to open it, it was flung back. And Tawny, Blaire, and Julie screamed.

They saw each other. Julie sprung back from the two girls and asked, "Who are you two?!"

"I-I'm B-Blaire and th-this is T-Tawny." Blaire was thoroughly scared out of her mind and was stammering with almost every word she spoke.

"Oh. Hi!" Julie relaxed. "I'm Julie!"

"JULIE?!" It was Tawny's turn to panic. "You're the contestant Julie! What are you doing down here?!"

"I didn't want to go to the Confession Cam, so I went exploring around the film lot. More importantly, who are you two and what are you doing here?"

"Well, we were taking our break from being in the Confession Cam all the time—" Tawny started.

"We're the two makeup artists there, you see?" Blaire added.

"And Blaire and I were walking around when she walked right into this stage building." Julie was thinking about how much Blaire was sounding like Bridgette right now.

"We both saw this stage's door open and decided to explore—I mean, Tawny decided to explore. However, we saw the stairs leading down here that you must've opened, and I changed my mind. And that's how we ended up here."

"Chase talks about you all the time though!"

"Chase? That intern I saved last season?" Julie inquired.

"Yeah! I'm his girlfriend!"

"WHOA! HOW OLD ARE YOU TWO?!" Julie sprung back again.

"We're 21." Tawny and Blaire answered at the same time.

"And best friends!" Tawny added. Julie had long cemented in her mind that they were just like Bridgette and Izzy, Bridgette being Blaire and Izzy being Tawny.

"It's our other job, however, to make sure no contestants find out anything about challenges coming up." Blaire explained to Julie.

"So is this the location of another challenge?" Julie asked.

"To be precise, your next challenge. I recognized it when I saw the eerie green hue and the mist everywhere. Chase told me about it." Tawny rattled off like it was nothing major.

"Stupid! You just told a contestant what the next challenge was!" Blaire yelled.

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone. But could you tell me about this other stage room I went into? It had two pools in it and a surfboard was over one of them. That same pool had a shark swimming in it." Julie asked. She was now completely set on getting as much information from these girls as possible before they caught on.

"That's your fourth challenge. You have to balance on the surfboard while being shot at—" Tawny revealed yet again.

"Lest you want to be shark food. Those are the sharks from the island." Blaire added.

"HOLY CRAP! Good thing I can balance!" Julie proclaimed proudly.

"The surfboard's gonna be wobbling like crazy." Tawny added.

"Now I'm not too sure I'll live after that challenge." Julie laughed. She looked down at her watch. "Wow! 2 PM already?!" It was true. Julie had been wandering underground for the past two hours, Blaire and Tawny for the past hour. "I guess we should get going."

"Yeah. Hey, you dropped out last season right?" Tawny asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask? Want an autograph or something?" Julie asked. She would've been proud to give an autograph, especially when it's the girlfriend of a guy you saved from Chris's wrath.

"Better yet, do you want some good food from the REAL Craft Services tent?" Tawny asked.

"Tawny! We can't take her there! She'll be caught by Chris for sure!" Blaire cried out in alarm. Blaire wasn't about to get kicked off the lot because she snuck a contestant into the headquarters of Chris to get some food. Maybe Tawny was, but Blaire certainly wasn't.  
"Then she'll go into the trailer like she would if she was confessing, and then she'll hide in the clothes rack away from the camera's eyes. Then we'll come in with food from the tent and give it to her to eat. Besides, we ate an hour ago. She probably hasn't eaten a thing since she got here yesterday." That was true. Julie had forgotten about her food last night and was too lazy to take it out of her backpack to eat. "You poor girl…" Tawny ruffled Julie's short hair a bit.

"Riiiiiiight…" Julie backed away uncertainly. After patting her hair down again, Julie spoke. "However, that sounds like a great idea Tawny. I'll do it. But we were served at the fake Craft Services tent?"

"Yeah. The real one has good food, not food made out of foam core, silicone, sawdust, and wax." Tawny let out a short burst of laughter.

"Let's go." Blaire urged. All three girls ran out of the underground and up the stairs. No one was there, so they all casually walked back to the makeup trailer.

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Jeez, this is LONG! Anyways, no ending A/Ns today. This chapter is way too long for it! But for the next challenge coming up, the reward is that the winners pick their own teammates. My sources tell me that the winners are Gwen and Trent, so they fight against each other! Since Julie has been in the location for the second challenge, she has a slight advantage over everyone else. So normally, Gwen and Trent win and they choose their teams. However, since I'm going to make sure Julie wins, I have two choices: have Julie give up her win and have things go as planned with the special privilige for Julie from last season (that's being able to switch teams) lasting however long until Courtney is let back on the show, or have Julie keep her win and be one of the captains alongside either Gwen or Trent, resulting in uneven teams until Courtney is let back on. YOU CHOOSE! Drop a line in a review because I'm not doing a poll this time around! Sorry!


	13. Scheming, Not Screaming

**A/N: **Yo! So here's the final part of the whole episode! Normally, I'd wait until my story is off the Just In section, but I can't wait! See the last chapter for the important notice about the next challenge! It's your choice! OMG SO MANY REVIEWS! Okay, so it's only 18, but I'm so proud of myself either way! Ah, this is great! So review, disclaimer is in the first chapter!

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My POV

"Stay here. We'll get some food for you. If we're not back…" Tawny trailed off.

"What do I do?" I asked.

"Tawny! Don't worry Julie, we'll be back." Blaire calmed me, or thought she did. And then both girls left the trailer. I waited, using my time by using the Confession Cam and rummaging through all of the stuff that was in the trailer. I found a boa or two, a bunch of clothes (those are suitable for playing dress up! Not that I'd want to though.), and quite a few wigs and mustaches. Perfect for a disguise. After about a half hour (it seemed like much longer though), Blaire and Tawny came in with two trays of food stacked with snacks, noodles, healthy greens, and quite a few brownies.

"WE'RE BAAAAAACK!" Tawny exuberantly yelled. Oh yeah, she's definitely just like Izzy.

"And we have food!" She almost tripped, but caught herself. A slightly less clumsy version of Bridgette, definitely.

"We didn't know what you wanted, so we got the stuff that we like!" Tawny explained. She showed me her tray, piled high with bags of snacks and a plate of…what, is that ten brownies?! I can't believe she eats just that! "I snack on munchies and brownies."

Blaire laughed. "SHE might waste her appetite on junk food, but I eat noodles and greens." Her tray was more to my liking. It had a bowl of noodles in some broth with green onions, spinach, and broccoli in it and another plate had an array of green beans, snow peas, edamame, and bean sprouts.

"That's only when I'm snacking! I'm a meat eater when it comes to dinner!" Tawny explained. Yeah, she should be Izzy's sister.

"Wow. You really like beans." I commented to Blaire. She had three different beans on that plate!

"Oh please. It's only these kinds. I can't stand the ones from Mexican restaurants." It was amazing how alike we were.

"Hey, your hair is different." I looked at it. Before, it was just in pigtails. Now, those pigtails were two buns.

"Oh, right." Blaire's left hand flew up to her left bun. "This is how I normally wear my hair. Tawny convinced me to not pin it up like this for a while." Blaire smiled. "Here's the food." Blaire handed me the tray of food. I went to a table away from the camera's eye and slowly ate my food while the two girls watched me. After I finished, I asked Tawny, "Can I take the snacks and the brownies?"

"Oh totally! We can always get more!" I placed the brownies in a food keeper Blaire lent me and I stuffed the snacks in my backpack. Well, I put the food keeper in my backpack, and then I put in the snacks.

"You should be on your way. I bet the other campers are wondering where you are." Blaire warned me.

"Hm, I guess so…well, I'll see you again?"

"Soon!" Tawny waved to me. She always knows how to put a happy spin on everything. I smiled and left the trailer. After I left, I looked at my watch. Time always seemed to escape me, because now it was 4 PM. I shrugged and walked around the film lot.

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Chase's POV

"Hey Court." I casually tried to talk to her for about the thousandth time today while I was looking at all of the glowing screens of our surveillance system. Ever since I left her alone to talk with Julie, she wouldn't talk to me. Apparently, it was because I left her alone…and Chris scared the living daylights out of her. It happened right after I showed Julie what Courtney was doing. As she was eating her yogurt, she suddenly found a bunch of wasps flying in the room. None of them stung her, but it was enough to scare her thoroughly and think it was my fault. Even after she found out it was Chris's doing (which was really only this morning), she still wouldn't talk to me. Or at least, civilly.

"SAVE IT! I HATE IT HERE! THIS MAKES PLAYA DES LOSERS SO MUCH BETTER NOW! And I HATE Playa des Losers!" I can't believe this! I spun around in my swivel seat.

"I already told you that I was out getting some food! I couldn't have prevented what Chris did!"

"Yes you could have! You could have guarded your room a little bit more!"

"REALLY?!" I leaned closer to her.

"REALLY!" She leaned closer to me. We remained breathing heavily and glaring for a long time.

"I can't do this." I pulled back. "I have a girlfriend!" I smiled, thinking about Tawny and her crazy attitude.

"I have a boyfriend! Hmph!" Courtney turned her head away from me. "Wait, WHAT?!" Courtney suddenly stood up out of her seat. "WERE YOU IMPLYING THAT I CHEAT ON MY BOYFRIEND?!"

"AHA!" I smiled triumphantly. "I got you to admit Duncan was your boyfriend!" I made a bet with Chris that she would admit that Duncan was her boyfriend before the week was out. He owes me 20 bucks!

"A BET?!" Courtney slapped me clear across the face. I spun around 180 degrees and landed face first on the control panel of the surveillance system.

"OW!"

"That's what you get for using me for a bet!"

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Courtney's POV

What the hell?! I was used for a bet?! Chris is SO going to hear from my attorney!

_Calm down. You're just upset. No need to go through a lawsuit._

_**What the hell?! He's tortured me so much these past two days, even the whole season! I can't even BEGIN to name how many times he's tortured me! I should've NEVER signed up for this show!**_

_Now I know that's not true. Besides, if you hadn't signed on, you wouldn't have met Duncan._

_**Do NOT bring him into this!**_

_Hey! He's the reason you're stuck here in the first place! If you hadn't abandoned him during that reunion, things could've turned out differently! You could've helped him up and run to the dock together and not even have this stupid season occur, but NOOOOO!!!! YOU HAD TO TRY AND GET THERE BY YOURSELF! And then Izzy fell on you. And then the chase began._

_**Whatever. They already have a bed set up for me in the girls' trailer. I'm definitely coming back.**_

_Or are you?_

I was now in my own room. I saw my clothes and my queen bed and felt a sense of calm wash over me. I don't think I've ever been away from home this long before. I mean, a week on a young leader's conference I can handle, but over two months on a reality show?! Oh well, at least I'm getting publicity.

_Not in the good way though._

_**SHUT UP! I'M GOING TO BED!**_

I landed on my bed with a creaking of bedsprings, and I soon fell asleep, thinking about Duncan yet again.

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Third Person POV

Nothing much happened after Courtney fell asleep. Chase continued to watch the screens and drink his beer (to help him stay awake). Courtney was dreaming a very dirty dream yet again about her and Duncan, and she was actually moaning in her sleep (we all know what that dream's about). The other contestants had actually started wondering where Julie was, but then realized it was her "thing" to disappear, and often, so they just explored the lot. Julie was exploring too, but she and the other contestants always seemed to just miss each other. Gwen and Trent would be walking in the western set one minute and then turn the corner, and then Julie would've just entered the western set. When Leshawna was trying to get away from Harold in the space set, and Harold followed her, Julie had just left the space set. And wherever Duncan went when he was walking (or occasionally running), Julie happened to wander on the path he was taking, but never actually seeing him.

Come dinner time, all of the campers were served the same God awful food they had back at Camp Wawanakwa, and quite a few contestants grimaced at the sight of it again, along with a few barfing at first sight. Julie took a little bit of the slop and gingerly ate it, disgusted by its sight and not wanting to let on that she was still full from that lunch Blaire and Tawny had given her. At around 9 PM, Chef had finally finished reconstructing the two trailers. Chris drove by the contestants on his cart, yelling through a megaphone all the way.

"Okay everyone! Get a good night's sleep because you've got a seriously early wakeup call! Call time is…6 AM!" He let out a chuckle. "Sleep quickly!" All of the contestants went into their trailers. The guys quickly sorted out who got what bunks and lights were out in their trailer in about 15 minutes. However, the same cannot be said for the girls' trailer (and seriously, when can the same be said about them?).

"I need to sleep on the east side so my head will be closer to the ocean!" Heather cried out.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! We're in Toronto! We're nowhere near the ocean!" Leshawna argued. Julie rolled her eyes at another argument. Just like old times…

"Then maybe I don't want to lay my pretty head near this big-assed, loud-mouthed, mall-shopping—"

"And maybe I don't want to sleep near a two-faced bossy little string bean of a prom queen!" Bridgette whistled cowboy style.

"Girls! You heard Chris! We need to be on set by 6 AM!"

"Would we mind coming to your early morning make-out session?" Leshawna made kissing noises.

"Yes! Kind of!"

"Hey!" Julie butted in the argument. "We shouldn't be insulting each other! That makes you no better than Heather over here Leshawna!" Julie sighed. "Look, there's an extra bed here. I think Heather should get that one so either of us won't have to deal with her and she won't have to deal with us. Then you guys can draw straws to see who gets what bunk."

"BUT I WANT TWO BEDS TO MYSELF!" Heather suddenly cried out.

"Then we'll settle this the only way I know how: best two out of three in rock, paper, scissors. If you win, you get the two beds. If I win, I get the two beds. _Capisce_?"

"Fine." So Heather and Julie battled for the bunks in a game of rock, paper, scissors. At the third match, each had won a game. Then Julie put out paper, and Heather put out rock.

"I win! Yes! It's okay Heather. Would you like to alternate though?"

"No way! Have fun losers!" Heather jeered. She went over to the spare bed and started unpacking her things.

"What about you?" Leshawna asked me, boring holes in my head.

"I'll take the top bunk of one of the bunks here. There'll be one bed leftover, and we could use that as a place to put our stuff on or something."

"So who's got straws?" Leshawna asked.

"WE CAN USE MAKEUP BRUSHES INSTEAD!" Lindsay ran over to her suitcase.

"Uh…" Julie was confounded with shock when Gwen suddenly approved of Lindsay's idea. Lindsay handed the brushes to Beth.

"Longest ones get the top bunks. Shortest ones the bottom." The girls who weren't Heather and Julie picked out a brush.

"YES! TOP BUNK!" Lindsay cried out with joy.

"I got bottom! I call Lindsay!" Beth and Lindsay ran off to a bunk bed system.

"I call Beth right back!" Lindsay also cried out.

"I got bottom! Gwen?" Bridgette asked.

"I got top. Sure." Bridgette and Gwen walked off.

"I've got bottom." Leshawna finally announced.

"I'm a top!" Izzy ran off to another bunk.

**

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My POV

"Well, I guess I've got this all to myself." I set my stuff down between the sink and the bunks. I sat down on the bottom bunk of my two beds. "Can you believe this? Now it won't be as fun here."

"Why do you say that?" Gwen asked.

"I mean, back at camp, we hardly knew anything about each other. We could play games of Truth or Dare or prank each other to have fun. Now we know everything about each other, so it's harder to have surprising—and humiliating—fun, don't you think?"

"I guess you're right. The only thing that kept me going sometimes was seeing Duncan and Courtney's relationship blossom." Bridgette concurred with me. Yeah, it was a lot of fun, but I'm not about to admit it. Not yet.

"A part of me does miss seeing Heather up to her old tricks." Leshawna said.

"Really?" All of the other girls incredulously asked, including Heather but minus Izzy (she was already asleep).

"With Heather, it was always a bundle of surprises. And we were worried for Lindsay and Beth. Now there's nothing to worry about." Leshawna explained.

"Hm…well, I think we should get to bed. 'Night!" We stopped our discussion and got ourselves ready for bed. In a half hour, we were all asleep.

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Chris's POV

Hehehe…I woke up at 5 AM specifically for this! This…is going to be AWESOME!!!! I got ready for the camera with a good tussle of my hair and with a megaphone and air horn.

"Ssssshhhhh! They're sleeping." I then smiled deviously and took out the megaphone, which I turned on with much feedback. "THIS IS YOUR 5 AM WAKEUP CALL!!!" Quite a few of the girls screamed. However, one girl didn't…she came right out to meet me.

"YOU DOUCHEBAG!!!" Julie stormed out of the trailer. "I'M TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP!!! ANNOY SOMEONE ELSE FOR A CHANGE, PREFERABLY SOMEONE YOUR OWN AGE!" She then slapped my face! I was going to get back at her, but the trailer door slammed when I recovered. I still laughed anyways.

"I'm only kidding! You can sleep!" I took out the megaphone and directed it to the guys' trailer. "For now." I only received a few groans in reply. Not good enough! I got the air horn just for this problem. I blew the air horn through the megaphone, but all I got back was an extremely loud fart from Owen! And dude, it smelled, was loud, and lasted long, like any good fart. But I directed my attention back to the camera after it stopped. "That's a wrap on day one. How will Owen fare with a stomach full of foam core and sawdust? What will tomorrow hold for Gwen and Trent? Who knows what drama is in store for our cast? All that and more on TOTAL…DRAMA…ACTION!!!" When I heard the camera crew yell cut, I finally sighed and left back to my trailer. Today's going to be big, and the cast is gonna be so shocked! Hehehe!

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Me: It turns out that the chapters appear longer in the Document Manager than when they're actually submitted! So that means I could've done an A/N last chapter! Whoops! *looks around* Uh...guys? Hello?

Julie: You didn't hear? Nikki died in a coma.

Me: WHAT THE HELL?! *ahem* I mean...how?

Julie: Well, Courtney's bludgeons were so severe that Nikki was put on life support, and then fell into a coma. She never woke up.

Me: Is there a wake?

Julie: I came to get you. Let's go.

Minister: We are here to honor and celebrate the life of Nikki, the wonderful friend of all, and--*Nikki rises from the coffin*

Nikki: SURPRISE! HAHAHA, I GOT YOU GOOD! Yeah, I didn't die! I faked it using a paralyzer! *Courtney fainted, Duncan caught her, Katie, Sadie, and Beth collapsed to the ground, and the others all gasped in shock*

All who are actively listening: NIKKI!!!!

Me: SHIT NIKKI! DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT! YOU MAY BE HERE BECAUSE OF ME, BUT I CAN EASILY KICK YOU OUT!

Nikki: Oh come on, it was just a harmless joke.

Duncan: HARMLESS?! MY GIRLFRIEND FAINTED! AND SHE'S THE ONE WHO HURT YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE! I SHOULD HURT YOU MYSELF!

Courtney: Wha--? NO DUNCAN DON'T! *holds down Duncan with Geoff, Trent, and DJ*

Me: Hehehe...review please? At least while we try to get this sorted ou--OH MY GOD, NIKKI RUN! DUNCAN'S LOOSE!


	14. Hiatus AN

**A/N: **Yo dudes! You're probably wondering why I haven't been posting. Well, it's pretty simple: the second episode isn't out yet. I can't get advances or anything of the sort, not until the episode's been broadcasted. But I can guarentee once the next episode comes out, an update will soon follow (in case you didn't figure it out, I type REALLY quickly). Of course, if you find it sooner than I do, tell me so I can get out an update ASAP. Expect challenge updates weekly though, and an in-between time will either be out the same day as a challenge or a day or two after, or even when it gets off the Just In page. Yeah, Just In page is better...

And keep voting on the second challenge (see chapter 12 for more info). Judging by your votes, it seems like Julie's going to keep her privilige from the first season, which I'm totally all for. I have some big plans in store for the in-between times and more, which I'm now making mandatory. Just that there's none between the first and second challenge, because the call time was 6 AM. WHO WAKES UP AT 6 AM WHEN ON A BREAK?! I thought so.

And while I'm still in a generous mood (which is rare, and I'll probably regret this later), remember that dream about Heather in chapter 4? Yeah, those are going to become regular. They'll focus on a different camper each in-between time. I'm planning for 10, and since Heather's has been done, that makes nine throughout TDA. I'm not telling you who the campers are, but I will give sneak peeks.

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Dream #2 out of 10: "You mean Delia Jones?" He gestured to the same girl who was now talking to who I assumed was her coach. "She's one of the nicest girls in gymnastics. It's impossible for her to do such a thing. And I'm a guard here. I didn't see anything."

Dream #3 out of 10: As I ran behind them, I heard trees fall to the ground with a loud quake and heard saws buzzing their way through, and it was getting louder. Then a scream.

Dream #4 out of 10: "...I love you, and I don't know what would happen if I lost you. Well, you can never be so sure. I really don't know what I would've done without you Joel. I, Kathy Lee Robins Gerard would probably be out in the streets. Don't say that, you know it's true..."

Dream #5 out of 10: I looked out, and there was a light hail falling. I was so close to sticking my palm out to feel the hail, but a voice stopped me.

Dream #6 out of 10: "Lila, that's wonderful! And I'm so proud of you too Andy!" The mother oozed joy for those two, but forgot her other child, who kept trying to get a word in, but couldn't.

Dream #7 out of 10: The little boy sat in his room, crying his eyes out. He was very upset about something, but I still didn't know what that something is.

Dream #8 out of 10: I've read and seen many stereotypes, but to actually see one in real life was extremely chilling.

Dream #9 out of 10: This explains everything I ever knew about him, fake or not!

Dream #10 out of 10: I can't believe this. This is torture. I can't believe he did this to me! And I tried to keep those memories buried for a long time, but now they've been brought back!

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So there you have it. A guest appearance in my A/Ns, maybe a chapter dedicated to you if you guess who these campers are. I know a few are vague, some are obvious, but that's what makes it all the more challenging!

So dudes, dudettes, ladies, gentlemen, boys, girls, I bid you_ adieu_ until the next challenge!

~*Lane*~

**Edit: Due to a lack of TDA episodes on YouTube (they've been removed) and no one attempting to help me with the second challenge (or future challenges), I hereby place this story on hiatus until I can find out how to continue again. If I do not find out how I can continue again, this may be on hiatus until it comes out in the USA, which is in March. Now, this does not mean I will remove this fanfic off the website, but I will go on to working on other fanfics. Just read my profile to get a rough idea of what those fanfics are. I had to erase this chapter because I didn't want to create a new one just for this small block of text. I'm sorry everyone, but unless someone helps me, I can't continue. :'[ Trust me, I'm very upset about this sudden development. Now I'm going to work on my other fanfics.**

**Goodbye. :'(**

**-Lane**


	15. Worn Relationships

**A/N: **Yo peoples! Thanks to renagirl9 for telling me where to get the second episode of TDA and Kayla712 for helping me although she was a little late! Your kindness will not go unnoticed! I am grateful, believe me! And since this on-off hiatus thing keeps happening, I'll just say that this will come weekly and I'll try not to get too impatient with my own rules, because I think that's what happened here.

In other news, we in the good ol' (or poor ol') USA now have a fourty-fourth president! Ladies and gents, BARACK OBAMA! Yes, we are all happy and such, but did anyone find the actual oath anticlimatic and the acceptance speech riveting? I did! Oh, and that poet from Yale? Don't even get me started.

Remember the fourteenth chapter and keep voting on the dreams! Dreams #2, and #5 have been guessed. However, no one has guessed Dreams #4 or #6-10. Dream #3 is open for guessing since it was guessed correctly by dichabite, who already gets appearances in my A/Ns, so I'm giving everyone a chance to guess it. I know it's vague, so just keep guessing until you get it right! The mini poll I gave from chapter 12 is closed! You'll see which decision I made! In fact, you can probably tell from this chapter!

Again, thanks for the help! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter, GET READING!

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My POV

Morning! Ugh, my alarm woke me promptly at 8 AM. I quickly got dressed and used the showers in our trailer. THANK YOU INDOOR PLUMBING! I then left the trailer to the makeup trailer, not to confess, but to see Tawny and Blaire.

"Tawny? Blaire?"

"Julie? Is that you?" Blaire asked.

"Hey guys!"

"Oh my gosh! You're totally here!" Tawny ran up to me and gave me a hug. "We thought that you'd forgotten about us and stuff, but you didn't!"

"You mean you thought that." Blaire stated.

"Right. Anyways, do you want some breakfast?" Tawny asked.

"Sure. Scrambled eggs, hash browns, and some chocolate milk available?" I asked. I didn't want to pressure them, but they offered me breakfast, so why not take it?

"Yeah, we've got all of that." Blaire said nonchalantly. "Tawny, go and get it okay?" But Tawny was already out the door after I had told them what I wanted. "So are you ready for today's challenge?"

"I'm not even that clear on what the challenge is!" I exclaimed.

"Well, today's your lucky day. You see, Chris is planning the alien movie genre, hence the underground chambers. Your task is to find the alien eggs and bring them to home base, AKA the cast trailers."

"What's the catch? There's always a catch." I remarked.

"Chef is the mother alien, and he's going to be hunting you down using a high powered paintball gun that shoots green paint. He's also carrying around a huge Gatling paintball gun, so be careful. However, you get GPS trackers that have the map of the film lot and the chambers installed onto them."

"Where are the eggs?" Blaire started to pale.

"Well, I shouldn't tell you, but they're in the boiler room deep underground. There's a pit of eggs, and they're real, so if you break them, green paint comes out. Again, you didn't hear it from me, so take your time in getting to the boiler room. Follow whoever is going there. Someone smart in these challenges. I don't know who they might be, but follow them. You cannot give Chris any reason to be suspicious, or he'll attempt to harm Courtney. And that room you wandered into, that's Chris's control center. Be careful, because he's got the pipes leaking mist and green paint at his disposal. You don't want to get drenched. The "prize" is that the two fastest get to pick the teams for TDA. However, Chris is planning for you to have your special privilege again, and personally, I think you should lose, but come very close to winning. That way, you can always switch teams safely, for if you're a captain, you can't do anything. Again—"

"I didn't hear it from you." I completed her sentence. Blaire nodded, and Tawny burst in through the door.

"I'M BAAAAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!" Tawny put down a tray with scrambled eggs, two hash browns, and a glass of chocolate milk on their off camera table. "Eat up!"

"Thanks, this looks delish!" I exclaimed and quickly ate it.

"Is that all you really eat for breakfast?" Blaire asked.

"Yup, this can keep me going until 12:30 PM!" I said before I started eating again. "But since I'm eating at 8:45 AM, this'll keep me going until 1 PM or later! But don't worry about getting me more food. I still have the snacks you guys gave me yesterday."

"All right." Blaire said uncertainly. Then a rattling. "Oh no! Someone's coming in! Hide Julie!" I quickly hid behind the rack of clothes. Then the door opened.

"Do you mind? We're eating here." Tawny retorted.

"I'm just using the Confession Cam." I heard a guy's voice.

"Why? So you can just keep blabbing about how much you miss "your Princess"?" Tawny mocked.

"Tawny!" Blaire furiously whispered.

"SHUT UP! No, it's about Geoff. He's constantly talking about Bridgette, and it's making me sick." Duncan. Out of all the times, HE had to show up HERE?!

"Is it reminding you of your deprived love life?" Tawny mocked.

"That's it, I'm outta here."

"Why? Too soft to stand up to little old me?" But the door had already slammed. I slowly got up.

"Tawny! That was a little harsh." Blaire said.

"Yeah, even I don't take my insults that far." I added. Well, I would, were it not for the fact that I actually respected Courtney and would never slander her.

"Man, his look was priceless!" Tawny was laughing her ass off. "No, I just have a personal grudge against him. He reminds me of all those bullies back in high school. And I'll leave it at that." I'll have to ask Blaire about that some other time. I finished my glass of chocolate milk and looked at my watch. I almost spit out my milk.

"IT'S 9 AM! CRAP, I HAVE TO GET TO THE CRAFT SERVICES TENT!" I got up and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"Good luck!" Blaire called after me as I slammed the door to the trailer and ran to the orange colored tent. I ran in, panting.

"What's your rush Cali girl?" Duncan asked—and insulted.

"Oh no!" I said between pants. "Nothing at all!"

"Doesn't seem like it." Gwen said.

"Nothing…at…all." I glared at them. They shrugged and went back to waiting in line. Heather had just received her food of scrambled eggs as I got in line behind Trent. Harold got his, and DJ was up next.

"Keep the line moving lovebirds!" Duncan yelled. I looked to see who he was yelling at. Oh, Geoff and Bridgette. No wonder he's upset with them. He could be doing that with Courtney right now…I chuckled to myself.

"What's so funny?" Trent asked me.

"Oh, nothing at all. Nothing at all…" I trailed off, smiling at the very thought of Duncan being off his game. Bridgette and Geoff passed by me, still making out. I grimaced, but then took pity on them. _I hope they don't get the boot, but they won't survive here. Note to self: vote them off when chance comes._ It wasn't the greatest decision, but hey, at least they won't be so horribly judged at the next reunion—if we lived to see it.

"More eggs and bacon for me!" I heard DJ down the line. "Keep 'em coming Chef." Chef growled in response.

"Forgot how hungry I got last season eating on Chris's wrecked schedule." Duncan commented.

"I know! It got to the point when I'd kill for Chef's disgusting food! No offense Chef." Chef's not going to take too kindly to that.

"None taken." Chef "missed" Gwen's plate and dropped the eggs to the floor.

"You can have my burnt toast big mouth." Duncan said. WHOA! DUNCAN BEING NICE???!!! This is…weird. I'll have to keep an eye open for this.

"Judging from that GUT, I thought you'd be all over the extra carbs."

"Nice." Duncan chuckled.

"You can have my toast Gwen." Trent came up to the duo. Oh boy, this is going to be ugly. After Chef scooped some eggs onto my plate and a piece of burnt toast, I made my way down the line so I could healthfully eavesdrop without being mauled by all three of them—strike that, Gwen and Duncan.

"Thanks, but I can't take enemy toast." Gwen said. Calling him an enemy?! Didn't they hook up?! Trent thought the same way.

"Enemies?! We're not enemies!"

"In this game, we're all enemies." Duncan argued.

"Except for me and Gwen. I'll always have her back, no matter what."

"Right back at ya babe."

"I'll remind you two of that when the money's being divvied up." Duncan smirked, and then left. Gwen and Trent followed, except Trent looked pretty pissed off.

"Um…Gwen?" I went after them and stopped Gwen. "You can have my breakfast."

"But—"

"I'm not that hungry anyways." I gave her my tray and left to the table to sit next to Trent, but across from Gwen so I could always see the door. I looked around, and saw Izzy squirting ketchup onto her pancakes.

"That is so wrong!" Lindsay squirmed.

"So wrong!" Beth added. Izzy laughed.

"In battle, we put ketchup on everything! Covered with the taste of mortar." Izzy added in a whisper. She left to the tables.

"My new nail polish is mortar!" Lindsay held up her hand and held it in front of Beth. "Isn't it hot?"

"Gray is so totally your color!" Beth complimented Lindsay. Oh wow, they're so superficial.

"Ugh, no eggs and bacon for me Chef. I'll just have this," Owen looked as though he was about to barf right there. "nice bowl of prunes." I gasped, maybe a bit too loudly, because all of the others looked at him as though he had gone nuts. "What?" He asked us.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"My uh...plumbing's been clogged ever since I ate all of those fake food props. Pressure build-up's killing me!" Owen strained as he tried to fart. "COME ON COLON! DON'T FAIL ME NOW!" Then he started farting. "Oh, I hear bells!"

"HOLY CRAP OWEN, WE'RE EATING!" Tawny yelled with a brownie in her mouth. "GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!!!!!" Owen was scared out of his mind, so he ran out of the trailer.

"Would it kill Chris to give us some Oust or Febreeze?" Blaire asked Tawny.

"Hopefully." Tawny grinned.

* * *

After we were all settled down and eating our food, Chris came in.

"Welcome to day two of TOTAL…DRAMA…ACTION!" Chris was dressed in a cheesy red director's beret and a red ascot and Ray-Bans. He clapped a director's clapboard and was carrying a green backpack, but otherwise was in his regular clothes. _That backpack must have the GPS trackers inside,_ I thought to myself.

"Are you going to do that every time?" Duncan asked.

"Yes, yes I will." Chris replied. Ugh, so typical of Chris.

"All right then." Duncan shrugged.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I swear, Chris and Duncan are getting on my last nerves. If Duncan steals Gwen from Trent or if Chris starts acting lame and sadistic, I think I'll snap!" Julie huffed into the camera. Tawny was nodding, but Blaire was wide-eyed with shock. She had seen what Julie was capable on and didn't want to see anyone hurt by her.

* * *

"Today's movie genre: ALIENS! Our unpaid interns have been hard at work figuring out what makes an alien movie successful." Hm, AVP. I loved that movie. "Chef."

"You've gotta have three basic rules: aliens want to take over the world and start making lots of baby aliens. People fight back. Then the military is called in." Chef threw a glop of green gunk in Owen's eye. "Yo Chris! Where's my paycheck at?"

"It's in the mail! Today's challenge: find an alien egg and return to home base before momma alien finds you. The two fastest get to pick the teams this season."

"Sorry losers, but no one knows alien movies the way I do. The more obscure, the better."

"Who are you calling a loser, loser?" I asked him viciously.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Duncan...has just got on my last nerve. I'm going to make his stay here a living hell." Julie cackled. "And really, someone needs to burst his swollen egotistic head. It could explode from being too big!" Julie sarcastically gasped. Tawny was doing a victory dance and Blaire was just shaking her head.

"Julie is really different from last season!" Heather exclaimed. "I like the way she works." She smiled siniterly. Blaire and Tawny were both worried that Heather might try to cajole Julie into an alliance, but then remembered how much Julie hated Heather. They sighed in relief once Heather left.

* * *

"I'm gonna blend up those no good aliens and have them for breakfast!" Gwen used a macho tone. Hm, is that from a movie? Probably, but I haven't seen this universe's movies.

"Dude, **Alien Chunks** is my favorite alien movie of all time!" Duncan exclaimed. **Alien Chunks**? That has got to be the stupidest movie title I've ever heard. At least make a good parody name! I'm familiar with the AVP franchise, so I should fare pretty well in this challenge. Besides, I already know where the eggs are. But Trent looked pretty upset that Duncan and Gwen had so much in common. Oh boy, drama!

"Me too! I've seen it 27 times!"

"53!"

"You'll be tough to beat. But I have my lucky charm."

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"How do those two have lives after watching that movie so many times?!" Julie asked incredulously.

"I love the scene in Alien Chunks where they turn the aliens into fruity blended drinks! I even have the necklace." Gwen raved. Tawny said "loser" under a poor cough. Gwen didn't notice it, but Blaire did and proceeded to elbow Tawny in her side--hard.

* * *

"I liked that movie where the aliens take over the government." Oh boy, maybe I should stop Trent from making a fool out of himself…NAH! I listened intently, pretending to not care when in reality, I would be munching on popcorn like crazy right now. "Take me to your leader!" Trent imitated in a robotic voice. I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand and shook my head.

"Oh dude, you are so going down!" Duncan smirked.

"It was a good movie, right?!" Trent asked. "Gwen?" I swore, his pupils bulged!

"Uh…okay, this is kinda awkward." Gwen looked away.

"Trent, that's not the kind of alien movie Chris, Gwen, or Duncan," I glared at Duncan at that point. "had in mind. Sorry."

"No, it's okay." Trent looked down, utterly crestfallen. I immediately regretted explaining the truth to Trent.

"What was that for?" Duncan asked.

"What?" I innocently asked.

"That—glare!"

"What glare?" I looked at him sweetly again, and he just shrugged.

**

* * *

**

Duncan's POV

"Yo Chris! You got some laser shooting monster playing momma alien?" DJ asked from the other table.

"Not quite." I heard squeaking, and then I turned around, only to see Chef dressed in a green alien suit. Oh wow, he looked so lame! I almost laughed, and I would've too, except I could get picked off first if Chef hated me. "You call that slime? MAKE-UP! MORE SLIME OVER HERE!"

"FUCK YOU CHRIS!" a voice yelled. Oh crap, it's her. Tawny.

"Shut up Tawny and pour the slime!" another voice yelled. And that Asian chick Blaire. I hate them both so much.

Slime rained upon Chef and he said, "I hate my life." We all do Chef, get over it!

"Here are your GPS devices complete with maps of the film lot. Find the alien eggs, but be careful, 'cause today, you're all on Chef's menu." Chris threw out four GPS devices. I caught one, Trent caught one, DJ caught one, and Heather caught one. Chris left us, and as I got up, someone snatched the GPS from my hands.

"Who did that?" Then I saw her. Julie.

"If you think you're going to be leading the pack, you've got another thing coming. It might not look like it, but I've familiarized myself with my OWN brand of alien movies and video games. So don't even think for a second you're winning this."

"Oh, I am winning this! And who says you're leading the pack?" I tried to reach for the GPS, but Julie jumped back.

"I do, because you're not capable of even grabbing this little GPS device from my hands. Face it; you can't get it from me because YOU'VE GONE SOFT."

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Julie, consider yourself a goner. Same with those two make-up chicks." He scoffed. "You went too far all three of you, and you're gonna pay for it."

"Two insults in 15 minutes...a personal best!" Julie gave a thumbs up and smiled to the camera. Blaire looked on in shock while Tawny was clapping for Julile.

* * *

**Gwen's POV**

"Whoa! What is UP with you two?!" Julie's gone nuts! This is like that time back in the trailer on the first season. Julie's starting up yet another fight, except now, it's hitting him a little closer to home. "Let's save it for the challenge, not now!" Duncan and Julie both glared at each other before they left the Craft Services tent. I followed with Trent.

Trent. He's so clueless sometimes, and though I love him, he just doesn't share the same interests I do. I hope he's not too angry. We were led to a stage room, but there was nothing in it. Then everything began to shake. The others looked shocked and surprised, but it didn't show on Julie's face. Has she been here before? Or is she hardening herself for the challenge? Or is she angry at me for breaking up her fight? Stairs formed that went deep down into the darkness, and then a voice boomed. Chris.

"This is where I let you go. GPS ready? Cast ready? Set?" Chris chuckled. "GO!" We all ran down the stairs into the darkness of the underground. Soon enough, we all banded together and went down the hall. DJ had given Izzy the GPS, and Heather still had hers.

"Hey, take it. You'll need it more than I do." Julie smiled at me.

"Uh…thanks." I reluctantly took the GPS from her hands.

"Lead the way." She gestured for me to go ahead, so I did.

* * *

Me: TA-DA!!!!! *does jazz hands and spirit fingers with sparklers going off*

Duncan: What?

Me: *gestures to chapter*

Duncan: What do you want me to do?

Me: CLAP LITTLE MONKEY CLAP!

Duncan: Little--?*now dressed up as a flying monkey* Oh HELL no!

Julie: It suits you.

Izzy: Haha, little monkey who's so cute...

Me: DANCE!

Nikki: I'll take video and pictures!

Duncan: Why?

Nikki, Julie, and I: YOUTUBE!!!

Duncan: Oh...crap. *light flashes*

Nikki: I GOT A PICTURE! LET'S GET MORE!

Me: All is well. Review please! *Duncan screaming in background*


	16. AVT: Alien versus Teens

**A/N: **I got the second episode back! So now everything's accurate! Yay! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

* * *

**Leshawna's POV**

"Hey, follow me!" Izzy said. "I know aliens! Uh-huh, I've been abducted by aliens loads of times. There's a tracking device in my neck see?" Izzy showed her neck. Harold took a look at it.

"Does it hurt?"

"Only when I hiccup." And to top it all off, she hiccupped. "Ow!" I stopped because I was in front of a door. But for some reason, it was really cold. Freezing, in fact.

"Oooo, can you feel that? It's like there's something in there cold as ice with no soul."

**

* * *

**

Chris's POV

I can't believe this! Leshawna's right in front of my control center! And she sensed me in there? Wow.

"Thanks! Now take that!" I pressed the mist button to scare those four outside my door. And it worked! I laughed to myself.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I have already told that skinny little tadpole that things between us aren't meant to be!" Leshawna looked at her nail beds. "Guess he can't get over the lusciousness that is Leshawna." She rolled her eyes. Tawny said denial under a poorly hidden cough, and Leshawna heard it. "YOU AGAIN?! I'm not gonna even waste my time on you, skinny white smart ass girl." Leshawna got up and slammed the door to the trailer. Blaire glared at her.

"What?" Tawny asked innocently. "I was clearing my throat!"

"I'm pretty sure Leshawna isn't over me yet. I see the way she looks at me, like she's unpantsing me with her eyes, her beautiful brown eyes, like chocolate almond--oh!" Harold then saw Tawny and Blaire, and they were both laughing at him. "GOSH! FINE!" He stormed out of the trailer. Tawny and Blaire stopped laughing for a second, and then the started laughing all over again.

* * *

**Heather's POV**

"How come we're the only dots on the screen? Where's Chef?" I asked out loud, shaking the GPS. I was at the end of the pack of losers. Apparently, no one wanted me near them.

"How did you get in our group?" Justin asked me.

"There are no groups yet. Plus, there is only one way we can go." I pointed straight ahead to the leaving group of losers. Justin shrugged and followed them. I followed him, still looking at the GPS.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Even though Heather can be mean, that doesn't mean we should be mean back right? Budda says "You can lead a sheep to water, but you can't make it nice."" Beth asked.

"That is so deep!" LIndsay exclaimed.

* * *

**My POV**

I was walking with Duncan and Gwen. I had given up the GPS to Gwen when we entered, so if Chef showed up, I could leave without a hitch. Then, I heard weird noises. Like…kissing. Gwen shushed us, and Owen farted in response.

"Aw, yes! First one! Smell it." Owen laughed. "Sorry."

"What IS that?"

"Isn't it obvious? A couple making out." I responded.

"Ever since I got my braces off, I don't make that sound anymore." Beth defended herself.

"Chris! Is that you?" Leshawna yelled out. But I knew this wasn't Chris's doing.

"It must be Chef. You wanna run, or do you want to kick some alien ass?" Duncan asked.

"Let's kick some alien ass!" Gwen agreed. Trent cleared his throat. "Trent, any thoughts?"

"Yeah, let's…kick some alien butt!" I face palmed myself again.

"So, who wants to go first?" Harold asked.

"Please please, after you." Leshawna said.

"DID ANYONE FUCKING HEAR ME?!" I yelled to catch their attention. "IT SOUNDS LIKE A COUPLE MAKING OUT!!!! GOD, NO ONE EVER PAYS ATTENTION TO ME ANYMORE!!!"

"Well if you think so, then why don't you go first?" Duncan sneered.

"Fine!" I stomped on the metal floor to go around the corner, and I was right. "Who was right? It's just Geoff and Bridgette." Duncan and the others walked around the corner.

"Oh, nice. Don't you two ever get sick of sucking face?" Duncan asked them, but it fell on deaf ears.

"I'm thinking that's a no." Owen replied.

"Enough messing around! We've got alien eggs to capture!" Gwen snapped everyone out of the brief stop.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I wasn't worried about Chef, alien costume or not. I mean, I did place second last year. I know exactly what I'm doing." Gwen smiled smugly.

"Does anyone give a fuck about what I have to say now? I mean, COME ON!" Julie threw her arms up in the air.

* * *

"Gwen's right. We should go. So, lead the way Gwen." I smiled smugly at her. We soon wound up near the entrance again, but now there were other stairs leading to other parts of the subterranean sprawl. One of these probably leads to the boiler room.

"Good thing we're all lined up in a row huh?" Gwen asked Trent—or everybody. I'm not so sure which.

"Yeah, ready for Chef to pick us off one at a time." Trent replied.

"We've really got to work on our strategizing."

"DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!" Those words kept blaring through the loudspeaker.

"Let's get out of here!" Heather yelled.

"Which way do we go?" Justin asked.

"North is nice, but east is least, west is best!" Lindsay used a little rhyme to figure out where to go.

"Can't argue with that! We don't even know how to!" Leshawna exclaimed and followed Lindsay, Beth, and Justin.

"The map says the boiler room's east of here." Gwen pointed to the GPS.

"Alien eggs are always in the boiler room." Duncan commented.

"Duh! Chris doesn't betray the makings of a good alien movie! Let's go!" I exclaimed.

"Uh…yeah! Totally! East it is!" Trent tried to get a few words in, but he solicited weird looks from Gwen and Duncan. Trent and Gwen ran off, DJ following them. I trailed behind them, enough to hear yet another insult from Duncan's mouth.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"With you! To the boiler room!" Bridgette responded.

"Sorry, but the lovebirds are on their own." Duncan caught up with me.

"Harsh much?" I asked.

"Oh, you're one to talk Cali girl." He rolled his eyes and walked ahead to Gwen, Trent, and DJ. I followed close behind.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"In any alien flick, the kissing couple's always the first to go. There's no way Romeo and Juliet are gonna ruin my chances at a million big ones. Uh-uh. But I swear, Julie is also getting on my nerves by being mean one second and then being nice. Her personality changes faster than I change my clothes, and that's pretty fast!" Duncan said.

* * *

**Heather's POV**

"Everyone! Snap out of it! If we don't band together, we are going to lose this challenge. Now who is with me?" Okay, so it was tubby, crazy girl, and uber geek, but better than no one right?

"Uh, it's hard to say. Does being "with you" imply some sort of an alliance?" Owen asked timidly.

"'Cause we don't like you." Izzy added.

"Okay, okay, forget being with me, who's willing to walk beside me in mutual pursuit of our goals with no commitment of any kind?" I asked, smiling, but really sneering and steaming on the inside.

"I can agree to that." Owen said.

"Count me in!" Harold added. What he didn't notice was that Chef was right behind him, dangling off a pipe in the air, but he fell. I wanted to run and scream right there, but I wasn't going to be picked off that easily. "Did anyone else hear that?"

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I may not be the best-looking guy, or the best-dressed, or the most buff, but I get my butt kicked a lot, so my senses are totally heightened. I can sense when something's coming. Nothing gets by me." Tawny and Blaire collapsed laughing, and Harold stormed out of the trailer. They were silent for a second, and then they started laughing again.

* * *

I wanted to slap him, but I didn't, because my face was plastered with shock. Chef was standing up, ready to shoot Harold.

"Say hello to eternity." Chef sneered before he shot Harold. Harold was flung back onto the metal floor. While Harold kept screaming, Owen ran to Chef.

"IT'S TIME! TAKE ME OUT! I BEG YOU! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" What kind of emergency does tubby have? Chef shot Owen nevertheless. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Make way, coming through!" Owen started farting, and I just barely prevented myself from fainting. Then Chef focused our attention on Izzy and me. I used Izzy as a shield. What, I need to get further in this challenge!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Ah man, I didn't think I was going to make it! But these bowels never let me down. Great job guys!" He rubbed his stomach, then farted. "Oh! I think there's more. COMING THROUGH!"

"Holy hell Owen! You stink!" Tawny covered her nose.

"At least Chase was kind enough to swipe some Febreeze." Blaire sprayed the can of air freshner where Owen used to sit.

* * *

"I AM NOT GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT YOU GLORIFIED DUNG BEETLE…LIZARD…WHATEVER!" I mustered up as much of my tough side as I could because I was scared out of my mind.

"One of us isn't getting out of here clean." Izzy then revealed a paintball gun of her own. I took this time to run away and save myself.

* * *

**Izzy's POV**

"You call that a paintball gun?" Master Chief asked me. He threw away his old paintball gun and flipped high up into the air, only to reveal a Gatling style paintball gun. "THIS is a paintball gun." Oh, he's got another thing coming! Clever Master Chief isn't so clever anymore!

"Fun! I love this game!" I threw away my small gun to reveal my own Gatling style paintball gun. I'm going to get him good. "If I can handle hand-to-paw combat with a polar bear, I can handle a bald, emotionally withdrawn cook in a Halloween costume." I told him the truth. The truth hurts, doesn't it?

"WHO YOU CALLING A COOK?!" That was a bit unexpected. I thought he'd be more hurt by the fact that I called him bald and emotionally withdrawn—and in a Halloween costume. E-scope saw through his distraction though, and flew up into the air to land farther away from Master Chief. I shot at him, but it missed, and he took the opportunity to shoot me multiple times. I dodged the first few, but alas, I was hit. I played dead temporarily to scare him, and then I got up. "I thought you were dead!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot!" I laughed and sighed. "Ah, okay. See ya, and thanks for the awesome fight!" I threw my smoke pellets to the ground and disappeared in a flash, only to find myself back at the trailers. Oh, so this is where home base is. Hope the others are doing well!

* * *

**Chris's POV **

"WHAT WAS THAT?! WHERE ARE THE GUTS?! THE GORE?!?!" I yelled at the now blurry surveillance screens. Then an idea. "I'll fix it." I threw off my ascot and beret, only to put on my trusty camo hat from the Paintball Deer Hunt from the first season. I checked myself in my portable mirror to make sure my hair wasn't messed up. Gotta look good for the cameras. "I really should wear camo more often." I smiled at myself. Ah, it's good to be the host…and executive producer…and writer…and director…and background designer!

* * *

**Third Person POV**

The cast was plucked off one by one. After Izzy, Bridgette and Geoff were both shot. Meanwhile, Gwen, Duncan, DJ, Trent, and Julie reached the boiler room and found the eggs in a pit. _Just like Blaire said. I'll have to remember to thank her._ She thought to herself.

Heather was wandering the sprawl when she bumped into Chef. She screamed and tried to run, but Chef shot her from behind (not before Chef scolded her for putting laxatives in his brownies, and stating that the only thing that should give people the runs was his under cooked meat), causing her wig to fly off her head. It fell on the grate, and started to slip through.

"MY WIG!" Heather lunged for it, but it was too late. The wig had slipped through the grate, and it was lost forever. "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" She then saw the camera. "DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Ever since my head was shaved last season, my hair is growing in all patchy and uneven. I've tried everything: lotions, lasers, traditional Burmese medicine." Heather drank all of it from her orange mug, gagged, then threw the cup to the floor. "Loser shaman!" Tawny chased her out of the trailer soon afterwards for throwing a mug to the ground. Chris would have their necks if the trailer was dirtied, even with the slightest liquid stain.

* * *

Chef brutally grabbed her and took her out of the sprawl to the cast trailers before going back in to find more vic—I mean, contestants.

Lindsay, Beth, Justin, and Leshawna both wandered into a room thinking there was a path, but it was a dead end.

"How did we get here?" Lindsay asked.

"If we knew, we wouldn't be lost." Justin explained. He was utterly ticked off by how stupid Lindsay was.

"You are so smart Justin. AND GORGEOUS!" Lindsay oozed. Leshawna and Beth stood by him.

Justin's anger melted away as he saw how these girls loved him. He grinned. The door suddenly slammed though.

"I hate to be the bearer of big bad alien news; I think this may be a trap." Leshawna backed away from the door. Leshanwa was right. This was a trap, courtesy of Chris and Chef. Outside the room but inside the sprawl in an unknown location, Chef fastened a hose to a pipe.

"We've really got to hire an effects crew." Chef was doing the dirty work yet again: pump green paint into the room to splatter all four of the small group. And they were. But Justin liked the touch of his body after being hosed with paint, but Beth wasn't grossed out.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"You know what? Models are people too! We stare at them, but they've got feelings just like the rest of us! They've got hopes and dreams! My dream is to marry Justin. My mom says that if I concentrate really hard, one day, all of my dreams will come true!" Beth raved. Tawny was now laughing her ass off, and Blaire rushed to comfort Beth, who was near tears. Beth ran out of the trailer before Blaire could even attempt to comfort her.

"I hope you're happy!" Blaire yelled as she threw a few boas at Tawny, who was still laughing.

**

* * *

**

My POV

"Wow! They look so…real." Trent remarked about the eggs.

"WOO HOO! WE WON! YEAH!" DJ cheered.

"Not so fast big guy. We still have to get the eggs back to home base." Duncan reminded DJ.

"Duncan's right. We've only won half the battle; now it's time to win the war." I smirked and proceeded to reach for an egg. Then there was a bleeping noise. Duncan took out his GPS (how did he get it back?) and looked at it with worried eyes. "Okay, I'm going to get eggs for everyone. And I'll do it myself." I jumped right into the pit, thankful that I didn't crush any eggs. "GET READY TO CATCH THEM!" I threw up four eggs, one at a time of course, and Gwen, Duncan, Trent, and DJ caught theirs. I packed one into my backpack, which had enough room for the egg, and I hoisted myself back up out of the pit. They all looked at their eggs suspiciously. "WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?! LET'S—" Oh no. Too late! Chef was now right at the door that had just hissed open. I ran up the stairs and out the door, but not before hearing DJ scream. He was hit. Duncan, Gwen, and Trent were right on my tail. But we all stopped at the sound of Chris's voice. I looked up to see him in his trademark red helicopter, but what was that under the helicopter? Oh hell no…he's not getting me this time.

"ATTENTION CIVILIANS! THE MILITARY IS HERE TO PROTECT YOU NOW! UNFORTUNATELY, WE CAN'T LET YOU LEAVE WITHOUT ANY ALIEN EGGS!"

"But we're supposed to take the alien eggs! That's what you said!" Trent argued.

"Right. I did." Those were green bombs! SHIT! He dropped them, and I started running as fast as I could.

"GREEN BOMBS! RUN FOR IT!" I yelled as I started running.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Rule number one: NEVER trust the military, ESPECIALLY if the role is played by Chris." Julie nodded.

* * *

"INCOMING!" Duncan jumped out of the way of the two bombs. I emerged unfazed, and egg still intact! I got it out of my backpack and gingerly hugged it. I got up and walked through the green mire to assess the damage. Duncan was covered in green, but Gwen and Trent looked just fine. "Does this mean I'm out?"

"Too bad, so sad, more money for me!" Gwen taunted.

"Ooooo, down for the count!" I gave Duncan a weird look when he said that.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Duncan is always trying to act like a tough guy. Ooo, you've got a Mohawk. Oh, you're soooo tough bud." Trent chuckled. Tawny face palmed herself while Blaire was intently listening to see if Trent would slander Duncan (he DOES deserve it). "Yeah, hairspray's really manly. I love seeing Gwen stick it to Duncan. She's so awesome I'd do anything for her." Tawny disguised the word girl under a cough poorly, and Trent noticed.

"Dude, he uses gel, not hairspray! You're so damn clueless. And stop being such a damn romantic! Well, okay, still do it, but really, you've got to show Gwen YOU'RE her bad boy, not Duncan." Tawny pointed out. Trent glared at Tawny, then left the trailer. "I think my advice got to him." Tawny smiled.

* * *

"I think you both mean more money for me. Guess who still has her egg? And isn't drenched in green paint?" I allowed myself a chuckle. "But there's no competition this way. How about you two go grab those eggs by Chef while he's still knocked out and race me to home base?"

"Oh no! Our alien eggs!" Chef was starting to get up.

"I'm on it!" Duncan was about to start running.

"No, I'm on it!" This time, Trent started running.

"Oh no! My necklace! It's gone!" Gwen exclaimed. Trent stopped in his tracks. Now I had to step in, or else Duncan would.

"TRENT! Get those two eggs before Chef regains consciousness! I'll get the necklace!"

"But—"

"GET THE FUCKING EGGS! I'VE GOT THE NECKLACE!" I saw the necklace about to slip through a grate when I just barely caught it. "Gotcha. Here you go Gwen." I handed the necklace to Gwen.

"Thanks. You know, even though you're younger than us, you've got a good head on your shoulders. Thanks again." Gwen smiled at me.

"Here's your egg. Meet you at home base?" Trent asked Gwen as he handed her the egg.

"You four gave it a valiant effort. But, you're still losers!" Chris laughed at us.

"I think you mean ONE of us is losers. Gwen, Trent, and I all have our eggs intact. And there's nothing you can do to stop us. So Gwen, Trent, may the best one win! SEE YA SUCKERS! HAHAHAHA!" I ran off with my egg all the way to the trailers. Once they were in sight, and Trent and Gwen were right on my tail, Trent tripped and smashed his egg. Gwen kept running all the way to the trailers, where I was already waiting. "You know, Trent smashed his egg."

"WHAT?!" Gwen turned around to see Trent walking glumly towards her, green paint all over his face.

"Oh no! Here Gwen, give this to Trent! He deserves this more than I do." I handed Gwen my egg, and she gave it to Trent. With that, I just sealed their fate of them being against each other. Everything according to plan, and I still get to switch teams! Chris is going to be so pleased!

"WHAT?! YOU GAVE UP YOUR WIN?!" Chris yelled at me. He had just arrived, Duncan in tow, but Duncan looked pissed off!

"Who says I can't? There are no rules, remember?" I glared at Chris. He always hates it when his rules are used against him.

"Ugh fine! We have our two winners, our only two winners! The rest of you really stink!" Chris then smiled. "As our two winners, Gwen and Trent will now be able to pick their teams, which means they'll be competing against each other this season!"

"Ah—dude, NO!" Trent exclaimed.

"Ahahaha, betcha didn't see that one coming! And it would've been Julie's win and you'd both be together, but she gave it up…to you!" Chris chuckled. He just had to go and blame me for all of this, didn't he?

"Eh…whoops? Can't help being nice sometimes." I chuckled and ran my fingers through my hair.

"And nice she was! After we vote off two cast members in the most thrilling Gilded Chris ceremony yet—" There was a collective gasp from the others. "Yes, you heard me. I said two! I'm liking the twos today! Must be Tuesday!"

"Lame, did you write that yourself?" I retorted, Noah style.

"Uh…" Chris stuttered.

"I'll take that as a yes." I smirked.

"All right, so shower off! You all STILL stink! And report to the amphitheater at 7 PM sharp!" Chris glared at me before he walked off.

"So Gwen, Trent, sorry. I didn't know that would happen, and I regret my decision." I pretended to act guilty. Gwen glared at me along with Trent before walking away. I left to the make-up trailer. I had to talk to Tawny and Blaire.

"We saw everything." Blaire said.

"We expected something big, but not that big." Tawny added.

"What do I do? Gwen and Trent hate me now. They probably think I planned this or something." I reminded them.

"We personally don't think you'll be voted off."

"Gwen and Trent might, and possibly Duncan too, but there aren't enough people who hate you." Blaire sighed. "At worst, you'll probably be in the bottom three. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to vote off Geoff and Bridgette. Gwen might vote for you and Heather, and Trent might vote for you and Duncan, and Duncan himself might vote for you and Bridgette or Geoff and Bridgette. We don't know how it'll turn out, but we can guarantee things aren't looking up for you. We don't even know how the team sorting will go over. All we can hope for is that the contestants don't tear you limb for limb."

"I'm going for a no holds barred thing while still being nice. Its working somewhat, but I already have enemies in three people, two of them top five players from last season."

"But you're one of those top five. Sure, you're below Gwen, but if you had stayed in the competition, you would've beaten her by a long shot!" Tawny added. "Just go for the win, no matter what, while still following your own standards, of course. Don't want to turn into Heather, now do we?" I nodded. _I hope I'm not doing so already._

"We got you a little dinner, so eat up before you go to that awards ceremony." Blaire gestured to a piping hot bowl of noodles. I quickly ate it.

"Thanks again. I would've gone crazy with my own thoughts swarming in my head!" I thanked them.

"No problem. We're always here, so just drop by!" Tawny called after me. I ran off to the amphitheater.

"It's time to cast your votes!" Chris told us through a microphone on a lectern. He was wearing a cheesy sky blue tuxedo. "Under your seats you'll find your voting devices. Just press the button of the person you want voted off. Oh, and no peeking! Or it's…na na na na…na na na na…hey-ey-ey…GOOD BYE!" Chris chuckled. Wow, he really had to throw that at us? Lame, but I held my tongue. My insult about his lame pun was bad enough. Can't fight with too much fire. I cast my votes for Bridgette and Geoff. Then Chef started walking out--in a pink glamour dress! I burst into laughter, and so did everyone else. "Your votes have been cast. If you get a Gilded Chris, it means you're safe—for now! The Gilded Chrises go to…Trent!" Chef started throwing the Oscar mocks at us. "Gwen! Harold! Duncan and Izzy!"

"E-scope!" Izzy yelled.

"Fine! E-scope!" Chris corrected himself. "Lindsay, Justin, and Beth are all safe." Lindsay was knocked out because the Gilded Chris hit her on her forehead. "So is Owen! My man!" Owen thanked Chris and Chef. "Next is DJ. Surprisingly, Heather and Leshawna. And last, but not least…" Chris held out his trademark dramatic pauses. I can't take it anymore!

"Fork over the damn fake gold mock-up before I come up and get it myself!" I screamed.

"Jeez, touchy! But yeah…Julie." I caught my Gilded Chris with a firm grasp.

"But…I thought everyone liked us!" Bridgette exclaimed.

"Liked being the operative word." Duncan added.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I know exactly who's going to get it this week." Duncan started to imitate Geoff and Bridgette making out.

"Good one Duncan! Consider this a truce!" Tawny held out her hand. Duncan reluctantly shook it, then left the trailer. "For now..."

"Two words: Bridgette and Geoff." Blaire noticed that Lindsay was holding up three fingers and face palmed herself and shook her head.

"Sorry Brigette and Geoff. At least they'll have each other." DJ shrugged. Most of the other campers said something along these lines.

"Sorry Bridge and Geoff, but you're both useless. Time to say bye!" Julie waved to the camera.

"See you make-out freaks!" Heather shot out.

* * *

"Any final words?" Chris asked. Duncan told them to leave, Harold was grossed out, Lindsay yelled out that they were the cutest couple ever, and I just wished them good bye, along with the others. And Geoff and Bridgette got up and walked to the Lame-o-sine, all the while making out. "So bye everyone! And get some sleep! You've got your break days back!" YES! REST AND RELAXATION HERE I COME! The other whooped and cheered as we all went back to our trailers. However, there wasn't much talking, except from Lindsay and Beth because we were all dead set on being against each other. I wanted to start a conversation, but I was still scared Gwen would rip me in half. And she has the capabilities. So I went to bed quietly, but my sleep was anything but quiet.

* * *

Julie: *sighs*

Gwen: I can't believe this! I have to compete against Trent?!

Trent: Why would you care? You seem to really like Duncan right now!

Duncan: Hey, Gwen and I might have a lot of interests in common, but I still love Princess more than her.

Me: That's so romantic!

Nikki: Very! You have been going soft Duncan!

Duncan: You'll pay for that.

Julie: Hello?! I did this! This is all my fault! I'm so sorry!

Me: Come on, I wrote it that way. Don't put the blame on yourself. Geoff and Bridgette will be missed though.

Duncan: Kissy couple? Good riddance!

Nikki: Eh, they were funny. But at least they're weeding out the weak early.

Me: True, those are the laws of the wild. So before I get into a discussion about evolution, review please!


	17. Cards and Memory Shards

**A/N: **This took me forever to write (forever in my normal pace of writing)! And it's kinda sorta filler. I botched the very, very ending. Sorry! No Confession Cam this time around, and I'm trying out a few new POVs. There's also a little something-something that I made up that has to do with a certain ceremony. Well, this chapter is dedicated to the readers! This is for all of you (and dichabite guessed this dream correctly, and she gets appearances in my A/Ns already)! Keep guessing on those dreams! Please, because I need dedications. Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

* * *

I'm back! Oh my God, I'm back in Playa des Losers! But…why is it so dark? I was standing in front of a door. Well, no harm in finding out what's behind it. I used my keycard and opened the door, only to find it was a normal room. Great, another one? There has to be something special here now. But there's nothing. I turned around, but this time, I was in a gym. There was no one in the stadium; it was completely empty. There was one girl, short and brunette with tan skin wearing a black leotard. She went up to the uneven bars and loosened the screws on the top one. I tried to scream at her, but she didn't hear me.

"Let's see how you'll fare when a bar comes crashing down. Then I'll win and not you!" The girl cackled sinisterly before leaving out the exit of the stadium. Well, I know I'm in a gym, and a competitor has just sabotaged the uneven bars for the next contestant, who is probably really good at them. I ran up to the uneven bars in an attempt to re-screw the bolts, but a tall guy with a balding head and shockingly white hair stopped me.

"You're not going to try sabotaging those bars, are you?" He calmly asked me. He had on a blue jacket and khaki pants with white shoes.

"No! Someone else sabotaged them! A girl wearing a black leotard unscrewed the bolts on the uneven bars!" I tried to warn him. Hopefully, he believes me.

"You mean Delia Jones?" He gestured to the same girl who was now talking with who I assumed was her coach. "She's one of the nicest girls in gymnastics. It's impossible for her to do such a thing. And I'm a guard here. I didn't see anything."

"But…"

"People are heading back in for the final contestant. I'm going to have to ask you to step off the area to the benches over there." He gestured to a few benches all the way on the other side of the mat.

"Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you." I walked over to one of the benches and sat down. In about five minutes, the whole stadium was abuzz with people shuffling in and talking. Then a loud whine sounded out of nowhere.

"And welcome back to Canada's Junior Finals! Now for our final gymnast on the uneven bars, please give a rousing round of applause for Lindsay Crenshaw!" A guy announced in a sonorous tone. These junior finals must be pretty important. But this is Lindsay! Lindsay the dumb blonde! She's good at gymnastics?! The audience applauded loudly as I turned my attention to the uneven bars. A young blonde girl who looked just like Lindsay (yes, including her breasts) came up to the bars and put chalk on her palms. I recalled from my days of being a gymnast that the chalk helped a gymnast to grip anything tightly and reduce the chances of falling. Her hands were already wrapped in bandages though. She was wearing a purple and blue leotard (the colors swirled into each other like a tie-dye pattern). Lindsay took a deep breath and jumped to the first uneven bar, performing a very complex routine of jumps, twirls, and flips. When she got to the higher bar, about a minute into her routine, she did a handstand on the top bar—and the bar collapsed, sending her down to the ground head first with a scream. The audience gasped and screamed and soon enough, the whole stadium was in an uproar. I stood up and ran over to the crowd of guards that had gathered around the fallen Lindsay. A stretcher came and she was hoisted upon the stretcher and carried out of the stadium. She looked awful, and was out cold. But the whole stadium soon melted away, because now I was in an ER. There were a series of doctors crowding a table, and they all looked downcast.

"How are we going to tell the parents?" A younger helper asked.

"We tell them how it is, no sugarcoating: your daughter has suffered a large amount of brain damage due to a concussion from falling onto the bar and the ground of the gym. She now has all of the intelligence of a five year old. She'll be able to learn, but she'll never reach an advanced level of education because her brain damage is too severe. We're sorry, but there's nothing more we can do. We'll keep her here a little bit longer to see if there's any further damage, such as loss of memory."

"This is devastating. I'd be crying if I found out my daughter can't perform at the level of her fellow peers. And at such a young age too…but doctor, could it have been worse?"

"Sadly, yes. She could have damaged the nerves in her neck and been paralyzed for life. Worse, the crash could have been fatal. The parents should be thankful their daughter is still alive."

"But at what price?" I asked out loud. The head doctor left the room and I followed him. He went up to two very anxious parents. I couldn't tell what they were hearing from the doctor, but I saw the parents' faces light up with joy, and then the mother started crying, burying her face in her husband's shoulder. I tried to run to them, but the faster I ran, the farther the scene got until the image was completely dissolved. I opened my eyes and shot up out of my bed, panting hard from running in my dream. This dream felt so…real. But now I know why Lindsay is as dumb as she is: someone else caused her downfall; someone else hurt her to get what they wanted. It's strange how that happened all over again last season…

* * *

**My POV**

I woke up at 11 AM to my alarm. It felt like today was a challenge, but no, it's our free day. And we have three days' worth. Wow, I'm going to be so bored! But I have that dream to think about…it was so weird. Lindsay, an expert in gymnastics? And smart at one point in time? Maybe I'm just making it up. It was just a dream after all. It's not like it happened in the past or anything. I took a shower and got changed, ready to go to the make-up trailer. I quietly opened the door to find Blaire and Tawny already waiting.

"Hey Julie. What do you want to talk about?" Blaire asked me.

"Is there any way I can know how people voted?" I asked.

"Yeah! We're the ones that tally it up! Here's our list!" Tawny handed me a sheet of paper.

_Gwen: Julie and Heather_

_Trent: Julie and Duncan_

_Duncan: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Julie: Bridgette and Geoff_

_DJ: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Lindsay: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Beth: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Heather: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Owen: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Izzy (E-Scope): Bridgette and Geoff_

_Bridgette: Heather and Duncan_

_Geoff: Heather and Duncan_

_Justin: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Leshawna: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Harold: Bridgette and Geoff_

_Julie-2_

_Duncan-3_

_Heather-3_

_Bridgette-11_

_Geoff-11_

"So…I was the one in the least amount of danger?" I asked.

"Well, kind of. Chris announced your name last to piss you off for that insult on his writing skills." Tawny explained.

"He's the writer?"

"Yup, and background designer, and host, and executive producer, and director! You were in the bottom five though, along with Duncan, Heather, Bridgette, and Geoff."

"Technically, there was an almost unanimous vote to kick off Geoff and Bridgette. However, Bridgette and Geoff themselves, along with Gwen and Trent didn't vote for them. It seems you're only really hated by Gwen and Trent, but Duncan could've voted for you easily. He just hated Geoff and Bridgette more." Blaire shrugged.

"So I'm still in danger?"

"Kinda, but not too much you should worry about. What you NEED to worry about though is where your loyalties are going to lie. Gwen and Trent hate you, so they'll naturally leave you for last. If that doesn't happen, Chris will spring his surprise early." Tawny explained. "And it's your choice. I don't think it'd be best if you're on the same team as Duncan or Heather. Duncan will try to get you kicked off, and if you're not careful, Heather can manipulate you. She's getting smarter. She's got plans to use you, no joke!"

"What you need to do is start acting nice. No more snide comments, no more insulting Duncan or Chris. You can't do that. You're at too much risk. You need to start standing up for others, prove that you're still the old you from season one." Blaire added.

"How am I supposed to do that when there's no one to stand up for? I mean, Heather's not going to try to form an alliance anytime soon, and I don't see too many insults being flown about."

"Then help Trent win Gwen back. She's changing; something weird's happening. It's like she's grown disinterested in her real love and the same goes for Duncan." Then I remembered Courtney.

"How is Courtney taking all of this? If she's with Chase, she certainly must have seen all of this "bonding"."

"Yeah, um…we're not too sure about that. I want to contact Chase, but Chris has the ability to track our cell phone calls and listen in." Tawny said.

"Why not just casually talk to him? Surely you must meet somewhere."

"Chris has the whole place bugged with cameras. The only reason there's one camera in here is because we forced Chris to not put in another camera." Blaire answered.

"Well, I can scramble the signal. I have it on my iPod. I did it a few times last season; I can do it again." I shrugged.

"Really? You did that?" Blaire asked.

"Just don't ask me how. I don't even remember modifying my iPod in the first place, but I can still scramble the signals at the touch of a button."

"If you can do that for a few moments while I slip Chase a note, I would be eternally grateful!" Tawny exclaimed.

"Just tell me what time and I'll do it."

"Mmm…noon. We'll both be at the Craft Services tent, and Chris has that place bugged too."

"I have to be precise because I can only scramble the signal for a few moments without making things look suspicious. So you have to work fast and meet at noon exactly."

"All right. I'll pass a note to Blaire, who will then pass it to Chase. Is that okay Blaire?"

"Mmm…fine." Blaire reluctantly agreed. "This won't turn out bad will it?"

"If we screw it up, yes, but otherwise, we should be fine." I sighed, also hoping that Chris wouldn't kill us.

"I'll get to work on that note." Tawny rushed over to her off camera table and whipped out a small piece of paper and a pen and started dashing away a note. In a minute, she had a note all written and folded in fours. "All right Blaire. I hope this works Julie. In the meantime, at noon exactly, scramble the signal. If you do it, we'll bring you food. I ate breakfast an hour ago, so I'm fine."

"All right. It's 11:45. Blaire and Tawny, start heading over to the Craft Services tent. Tawny, I need you to go with her, but don't go into the Craft Services tent until she exits. That way, Blaire can bring food for herself and you can get food for me. Get what you like to eat Tawny. I'll eat anything; just don't get what Blaire gets. If the place is as bugged as you say it is, we'll have to take extra precautions to deflect suspicion." I crafted my plan. How strange…I'm telling 21 year olds what to do, and I'm 14!

"Got it. Let's go." Blaire urged Tawny to follow her, and they both left the trailer. I got out my iPod and prepared myself to scramble the cameras.

* * *

Tawny's POV

Wow, Julie's smarter than I thought! She came up with all of this by herself! I'm very impressed! Blaire told me to not talk about our task or Julie because the cameras would be watching us; so instead, I decided to talk about how much I hate the lot and about other stuff related to the show. It's what Chris would want to hear.

"Can you believe your Canadian counterpart was voted off?" I asked her.

"I don't know, I mean, she was making out a lot and not really focused on the competition. Same with Geoff."

"Who would you have wanted voted off?"

"Heather and DJ. She's a pain in everyone's ass and he's uneventful."

"Got that right." I saw the Craft Services tent, and I stopped. Blaire saw why I stopped (she didn't know why at first), then kept walking.

* * *

Blaire's POV

Paper…check. Dignity…check. Normal face…check. Okay, deep breath in…exhale. I'm ready, I'm prepared, and I'm cool, calm, and collected. I can do this. I walked into the tent and found the noodles waiting on the far right end of the table with the other bowls. I grabbed a tray and a plate, and just my luck, Chase walked in and got in line next to me.

"Psst. Chase." I whispered.

"Why are we whispering?" He replied.

"A note from Tawny. She can't deliver it herself for fear of the cameras."

"All right." I slipped him the tiny sheet of paper, and he put it in his jean pocket. I took scoops of bean sprouts, snow peas, and edamame and heaved them onto my plate. I then went down to the end of the line to pick up the bowl of noodles. After that, I left and signaled Tawny to go into the trailer to get her own food. She nodded and left as calmly as possible.

* * *

My POV

At noon, I scrambled the signal for about a minute or so, more than what I wanted, but I had to give myself a little cover just in case something went wrong in the delivery. I didn't wait too long after that because Blaire came in with her own food. My mouth watered at the sight of it, but I held myself down until Tawny came back. And sure enough, she did. There was a large steak on a plate along with some French fries and cream of spinach.

"Oh my gosh! I haven't had American cuisine in forever!" I yelled out.

"This is MY kind of food." Tawny handed me her tray, and I just looked at the steak in awe before I took a French fry and dipped it into the cream of spinach. I sighed in delight. It's been forever since I had food just like this! "Glad to see you're enjoying it." Tawny smiled.

"Oh yeah!" I nodded quickly and started cutting into the steak.

* * *

Chase's POV

After I finished eating my hamburger, I tossed the wrapper into the trash can. Courtney was in her own room, pacing about and thinking. How did I know?

* * *

"_What am I going to do? What if I stay here forever as a slave?" She wondered out loud and paced. Chase had been walking outside when he heard this. "And I really miss Duncan…wait, no! He's hitting on Gwen! Trent must be so upset…"She kept pacing about the room._

* * *

I stood up and put my hands in my pockets. I felt something. I pulled it out of my pocket, and sure enough, it was a small paper folded in fours. I opened it to find a few sentences scribbled away in a scrawl I could just barely make out, but I knew who's it was: Tawny.

_Chase, how are you? Are you fine? How's Courtney, because Julie wants to know how she's taking Duncan's sudden interest in Gwen. We'll have to talk to each other like this because of all of the security. I would give this to you myself, but it'll look too suspicious. Did you know that Julie can scramble the signal of the cameras like you can? Yeah, I was shocked too, and so was Blaire! Who knew Julie could do such things? But we're keeping Julie's attitude in check and giving her as many hints to the challenges as possible in order to get back at Chris. Don't try to stop me baby. Send your reply on the back of this paper. Love, Tawny_

I turned the paper over and got a pen that was on my desk. I started scribbling away.

_Baby, I'm fine. Still a little irked by Chris, but fine. Courtney's not taking Duncan's sudden interest too well; she thinks he's hitting on her. Courtney, however, does not know the full extent of Trent's worries. I know the security sucks, but at least we can communicate like this._

I stopped at this point. Did I want to reveal that I had known Julie could scramble the signals all along? Or should I pretend to be astonished? I don't like lying to Tawny, but I guess I'll have to make an exception.

_Wow, she can do that? That's great! Julie has been acting kind of mean lately, so make sure she doesn't get manipulated by anyone. I hope you've told her to lay off the insults. Remember the challenge: groups will be picked, and they have to reenact the work a film crew must go through. After hauling the equipment up a hill, they must then create a mini movie. One will be about a grandmother retelling her life and the other about a gangster who can't resist the temptations of a bad lifestyle. Or something along those lines. The team that makes Chef Hatchet show emotion wins invincibility. This is a very good challenge for Julie because she can act and push people to their limits. I know you're doing okay, so I'm not worried for you—much. Love you too, Chase_

I folded the paper into fours and put it in my jean pocket for safekeeping. I sat at the desk and sighed deeply.

* * *

Courtney's POV

The nerve! The UTTER nerve! I've been stuck here for only three days…three! And so far, I've been taken out of a competition, humiliated by Chase and Chris, and to top it all off, my boyfriend is cheating on me!

_You admitted he was your boyfriend! This is an amazing development!_

_**Shut up. I do not need this right now.**_

_Yes you do. Admittance is always the first step in anything. But he's not cheating on you._

_**What makes you say that?**_

_Uh…HE LOVES YOU TO DEATH! He'd seriously do anything for you, you just don't know it._

_**Then how do you know it? You are me after all.**_

_Uh…it's an assumption. But just see the way he looks at you! And he's only being friends with Gwen._

_**Trent doesn't seem to think so.**_

_It's a primal "urge" for men to be jealous. Duncan would act the exact same way if you were in Gwen's position being suckered by someone like Trent._

_**I…suppose that's true. I just want to know when I'm going to be introduced. There was an extra bed in that trailer for a reason, and I'm determined to find out what that reason is.**_

_What team do you think Duncan's going to be on?_

_**I don't care.**_

_Yes you do. It means everything, because he could be on Gwen's team, even Heather's! Depending on which team she gets on of course._

_**Would they ever end up on the same team?**_

_It's a 50/50 chance. But still unlikely. I mean, you wouldn't put your enemy on the same team, would you?_

_**Well—**_

_Don't answer that. Now's it's ten times as likely. Gwen will want Heather on her team because if they lose, Heather's a good scapegoat and an easy contestant to dispose of. No one likes her, not even Duncan._

_**What's THAT supposed to mean?**_

_It means that he likes her looks, but not her attitude. Besides, after his final challenge, he's never forgiven Heather for duping him. He told you that._

_**Right, right. You know, I better check on him.**_

I walked out of my room to Chase's to tell him I wanted to go to see the surveillance center. I couldn't go in without his permission.

"Chase?" I asked. I went in his room because the door was open.

"WHAT?! WHO'S THERE?!" He raised his fists ready to fight, but then saw me. "Oh, it's just you. I thought it was a robber or worse…Chris."

"Well, it's not. I want to go to the surveillance center."

"Checking up on a certain someone, are we?" Chase smirked. He knew exactly what I was doing, but I'm not about to admit that. Chase is too much of a jerk.

"NO! I just want to see how everyone's doing."

"Specifically your boyfriend."

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

"So you WERE going to check up on him!" Now I was shocked and angry beyond words. Chase always finds some sort of way to twist my words! At least it's not as bad as…"Yeah, let's go. I've got nothing better to do anyways." And he interrupted my train of thought! Either way, I followed him to the tent to find the familiar glowing screens and control board that I remembered from my first day here. We each pulled up a chair to start watching the screens.

* * *

Trent's POV

I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't think straight. Ever since yesterday's challenge, I haven't been able to do anything properly anymore. Just knowing that I'll have to compete against Gwen is putting me on edge! Would I let her win? Should I defeat her? What do I do?

"OW!" I yelled and fell to the ground. I had started to take a walk outside, but I hadn't taken two steps off our trailer area and I've bumped into a tree. Guess that bad luck streak is going to follow me here. But what do I do for three days here? There's got to be something to do around here. Explore? Play a sport? Something besides sitting in our trailers? Well, as long as I'm outside, might as well do some exploring.

* * *

Owen's POV

"COME TO PAPA!!!!" My bowels were finally clear! I could eat as much as I wanted to! YES! YES! YES!

"NO!!! GET YOUR TRAY, GET YOUR FOOD, AND SIT YOUR ASS DOWN NOW!!!!" Chef yelled at me. Aw, I miss the buffet back in Playa des Losers. I glumly took a tray, got Chef's food, and sat down at the table. Chef always manages to make me feel awful, even when I don't have a stomachache.

* * *

Chef "Master Chief" Hatchet's POV

Damn tubby kid. First I can't break him in two, and now he's going to steal all my food! Not gonna happen. At least I got my money from Chris. Damn pretty boy with a sadistic side. But that's all I like about him. If I could, I'd break Chris in two. But I can't because I now have a job, even though I hate it. Better than nothing. But no one ever pays attention to me, even though quite a few hit a little too close to home for me.

Take Geoff and Bridgette. That kind of love is what I used to have back when I was their age, back when I still had her…_Get a hold of yourself! She's water under the bridge, and she's not to be brought up ever again!_ Or DJ. That boy, he's nice, helpful, even asked to help out in the kitchen. He's what I used to be like too. But he needs to learn to toughen up, and he won't survive if he learns that he has to the hard way, like I did. I barely survived when I learned to toughen up in the Marines. He needs to do the same. And there's an idea…this is an offer he WILL NOT refuse!

* * *

Third Person POV

While Julie was hanging out with Tawny and Blaire, Chase was watching the surveillance screens with Courtney (who was glued to Duncan's every move), Trent was exploring the Western set of the film lot, DJ was helping out Chef (who gave in after about 1,000 pleads and begs), Heather, Lindsay, Beth, and Leshawna were all inside the trailer after lunch just to hang out and not be outside, Izzy was playing hide-and-go-seek with herself (don't even ask how she does it), Gwen was wandering the film lot and drawing whatever she saw (coincidentally, she seemed to just miss Trent), Owen was taste-testing the food that DJ made with Chef, Justin was inside his trailer looking at himself in his own full length mirror, Harold was tampering with his red ant farm (yes, the same one that Gwen used to prank Heather last season), and Duncan was off being Duncan, much to Courtney's displeasure. She was so sure that she'd catch him making a move on Gwen, and although it hurt her to think about losing Duncan, she knew she could hurt him as much as she pleased, which made her smile and then shudder at her own violent thoughts.

"HE'S NOT DOING ANYTHING!!!" Courtney screamed for the umpteenth time. Chase was near his boiling point and couldn't take much more of Courtney's complaining.

"That's a good thing. It means he's not interested in Gwen. Besides, she doesn't seem interested in him." Courtney knew deep down this was true, but wouldn't voice that opinion, never in a million years. She had already made a fool out of herself in front of Chase one too many times in her opinion.

"Well, maybe the cameras aren't catching everything."

"Court, I don't know how many times I told you this, but let me tell you again: if he did something, we'd see it. This place is crawling with cameras. Chris took extra care to keep everyone in sight. Even our own headquarters are bugged with cameras. This room is bugged with cameras. So let me stress again: if Duncan did something, we would have seen it." Chase leaned back in his seat, tired from telling her the same thing over and over again. _What does it take to make her paranoia stop?_

"I'm getting tired. I think I'll just stay in my room for a while. Keep watching those cameras." Chase rolled his eyes in disgust. She, a 16 year old, was telling him, a 22 year old, what to do. Then again, she was mature for her age.

"Fine Miss Paranoid." This time, Courtney was too tired to even argue with Chase. She just stopped, rolled her eyes, and left the tent. Chase thought that his insult warranted a good slap to the face, maybe a punch too and a kick to where she always seemed to kick for good measure.

So it should be no surprise that all of these events, what the contestants were doing, seemed to replay itself the next day. Chase was still watching the cameras with Courtney, and he had passed on his note to Blaire to give to Tawny, and she replied that evening. Julie was still scrambling the signal from the make-up confessional, and Courtney took notice, but since it was only for a few seconds, Courtney figured that there was just a little interference and that it was nothing major to report. Julie herself hadn't told anyone about the dream she had about Lindsay, but kept mulling it over in her head, replaying the actions, wondering why that guard had stopped her from saving Lindsay, what she used to be like when she was smart, everything about Lindsay.

On the day before the challenge, Julie tried to get everyone together to play a game, but it didn't work. Everyone was off doing their own thing, and besides, who wants to play any game with the girl who changes personalities faster than most people change socks? After this, Julie retreated to her own bed. She didn't talk for a few hours; she just sat there looking at the walls of the trailer. The other girls saw this and wondered if they should do something to cheer her up.

"Wow, she looks really upset." Lindsay observed.

"Should we try to cheer her up?" Beth asked.

"I don't know." Gwen replied. She never voiced it, but she knew that if Bridgette were still here, she'd know what to do.

"Well, I don't think so. Let her wallow in her own self-pity." Heather scoffed. This solicited a deep sigh from Julie. She expected something like that out of Heather. "See?"

"That doesn't mean we can't help her out." Leshawna mediated. She suspected an argument coming up and was doing everything in her power to stop it. She couldn't handle arguments over the break days. Sure, during challenges, but never break days. Those are meant for rest and relaxation. "Where's Izzy? Didn't she become friends with Izzy?"

"I think she went to play hide-and-go-seek with herself." Beth pondered. In the end, the girls decided not to help her, and Julie was a little bit upset, but preferred it that way. But then she realized that this was what her old form would do. She wasn't going to wallow anymore. And to the girls' shock, she jumped off her bunk and got out a blanket and a deck of cards.

"Who wants to play a card game?"

"What game?" Beth asked.

"It's your choice. Any games you know or a game that we all know."

"How about BS?" Beth asked, politely using the abbreviation for its real title.

"That's a four player game, isn't it?" Gwen asked. She had taken an interest in the conversation and also thought that a card game would be a good idea.

"We can always do teams. It just depends on who wants to play." Beth shrugged.

"We can get the guys!" Julie exclaimed. And before any girl could object to Julie's decision, she ran out the trailer.

"Well, I'm not playing." Heather turned away from the girls.

"Oh, you're playing." And in the end, Leshawna forced Heather to play with all of them.

"Isn't BS a four player game?" Trent asked. He too used the initials for its real title.

"I don't think using teams is wise. I mean, what if other people can see an opponent's cards?" DJ asked.

"BS is favorable to my skills of deceit." Harold commented.

"Well, what about Blackjack or Poker?" Duncan asked. "That'd be better for a large group of people."

"Blackjack is more favorable to my skills than Poker." Harold commented once again.

"Sure, I'm cool with it." DJ said. Trent merely nodded. Owen passed gas.

"Blackjack it is then." Julie left the trailer to go to the girls' trailer.

"Blackjack?" Beth trembled. "No betting or stripping, right?"

"Of course not! I'll keep the boys in check." Julie reassured her.

"Blackjack's fine with me." Gwen commented.

"How do you play?" Leshawna asked. And before Heather could work up an insult, because she knew how to play, Julie started to teach Leshawna how to play.

"The point of the game is to reach a combined total of 21 when dealt cards. In the cases of the values, all number cards are their own value, jack, queen, and kings are all 10, and an ace can be either 1 or 11, your choice. You're supposed to beat the dealer and others around you. Say hit when you want another card, stand when you want to stay at your value. That's pretty much it."

"Where are we going to play?" Beth asked.

"I was thinking outside under the tree. We could all sit on the grass or blanket that I have and just deal cards like that."

"That would be SO great!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"All right! Let's start heading out!" Julie opened the door to go to the guys' trailer and the rest of the girls left to the shade of the tree. "Hey, we'll be playing Blackjack outside. Let's go!" The guys came out a short while later. Julie set up the blanket and the others sat on the grass in a circle around the blanket.

"Who's the dealer?" Duncan asked.

"I am." Julie blankly stated. "We could always switch dealers after each shuffle of the deck."

"Well, what are we betting? Surely we must be gambling something." Heather commented.

"Um…" Julie thought for a second, and then came up with a great idea. She grinned. "Since none of us have any money or chips to represent money, how about we bet…secrets?"

"Secrets? How do we bet those?" Leshawna asked.

"Well, before we're dealt our cards, we'll each bet how many secrets or tidbits that we want to reveal. If we lose, we have to confess our secrets. The winner does not have to confess their secret. Or, we could bet truths. Winner of a round asks each loser a question, and the loser MUST answer truthfully. Any takers?"

"Whatever. I'm game." Duncan shrugged.

"Sure." Gwen said. Everyone else agreed. Beth and DJ agreed a little reluctantly however.

After quite a few rounds, everyone had learned something about each other: Julie had revealed that she loved her little brother even though he was annoying and that she envied her own friends in her past. Duncan revealed that his audition tape was staged, Lindsay said things people already knew about her (she didn't quite understand the concept of "secret"), Heather had admitted that she had a brother and wasn't an only child (much to the shock of most people), Leshawna revealed that although she loved her best friend, she could be a little annoying, and so many other secrets too numerous and self-deprecating to list here. They continued until dinner, and then Julie packed up the game. She had been allowed to be dealer the whole time, and smiled at the happy memories before leaving to the trailer. After dinner, she stayed up until 9 PM before going to bed, thinking about her dream and smiling at the memories of the Blackjack game. _I'll have to arrange it again some…time…_Julie drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Me: Longest chapter yet!

Noah: And an eyesore.

Nikki: So why are we hanging with these losers again?

Eva: You want to say that one more time?

Me: Calm down Eva. We're staying with them because they've been neglected, and they need care from us too.

Cody: So...where are we?

Sadie: Yeah, it's all dark and stuff.

Katie: Sadie, I'm scared! I want Justin here!

Sadie: Justin's MINE! *Katie and Sadie get into a huge argument about Justin*

Nikki: Right. So we're being Good Samaritans by staying with them?

Me: Exactly! All right, so we could be hanging with the cooler contestants--

Eva: COOLER?! RRRRAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

Me: RUN NIKKI!!!!!! WWWWAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ezekiel: What eh? Am I supposed to say review?

Noah: You just did. *sighs and rolls eyes* Review please, or else Eva will kill your beloved author Lane. That doesn't sound like a bad idea...

Me: I HEARD THAT!


	18. Up the Cliff

**A/N: **Now, this is the challenge part of the episode. I have a little something-something that needs another chapter to really flesh out. Then the awards ceremony will be there. But you might already know who's going home. I know I do! But I'm not telling. I have a ton more POVs this time, less focused on Julie, and I managed to include Lindsay's! I hope I portrayed her well; her POV was one of the hardest to portray! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter. **And keep guessing for those dreams!**

**

* * *

**

My POV

"ALL CREW ON SET!!!! CALL TIME IS 4 AM!" Fuck you Chris.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"At first, I thought he was talking to the crew crew, not us. I was really hoping they'd replace "Chris the Creep" with a nicer host this time around! Is that mean? Sorry!" Beth waved shyly to the camera.

"Damn you to hell Chris. Damn you to hell." Julie threatened.

* * *

"DAMN IT CHRIS!!!" I yelled. "WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME?!?!" I got up and made my way through the darkness in my sleepwear, a simple white spaghetti strap top with gold dots and blue mid-thigh length shorts that hugged my skin. I quickly got changed into my clothes.

"I can't believe I'm doing another season of this show." Leshawna grumbled. We started to leave the trailer, keeping up with the guys.

"This continuing sadistic wake-up call is messing with the natural rhythms of my body clock. My mojo will be destroyed!" Harold exclaimed.

"You're on a film set now, and you're gonna learn that showbiz is not all red carpets and pool parties. Today you're gonna get schooled on how tough on-set production life can be." Chris explained.

"Whatever, I can deal. I once had a summer job at a petting zoo. It's SO adorable, everybody feeding the ADORABLE goats their adorable cabbages. But somebody, i.e. me, had to shovel up the less adorable end of the digestive process." Gwen said. Wow…that's just…wow.

"Well, speaking of number two, it's time to pick your teammates and then try to stick it to the team your boyfriend chooses." Chris grinned wickedly.

"We're not going to get all competitive and nasty, are we?" Trent asked. It almost seemed as though he was pleading with Gwen not to get competitive. I can't be so sure though.

"Absolutely not! We learned from last season, right?" Gwen replied. Oh…no…this isn't going to be good.

"I'll see you at 9 AM folks!" Chris laughed and left us. I ended up walking back to the trailer. I saw a note on the steps and picked it up.

_Julie, hopefully, you're reading this. I can't get this to you in person, so I just left it on the steps to the trailer. Your challenge is you have to reenact the work a film crew must go through. After hauling the equipment up a hill, the teams must then create a mini movie. One will be about an old lady retelling her life and the other about a gangster who can't resist the temptations of a bad lifestyle. The team that makes Chef Hatchet show emotion wins invincibility. I don't know what each team will get, but be sure to pick where your loyalties lie. Be careful and safe, Blaire_

Good thing I picked this up! One of the girls could've gotten a hold of this! I crumpled the note into a small ball and put it in my pocket. No one's going to get a hold of this, not on my watch.

After about 5 hours of relaxing and reading _The Art of War_by Sun-Tzu and _The Prince _by Niccolo Machiavelli (I had to bring something!), I realized I could turn the tables on whichever team I went on by becoming the "other leader". If I do so, I can crumble the team over time from within. And if I keep switching, I can crumble each team. This is going to be good. It was now 9 AM, and I was dressed and outside the trailers with Chris, who had called us out of them. How I hate him…

"Okay, let's get this bloodbath started!" Way to make us feel better Chris. "You're going to choose schoolyard style: boy, girl, boy, girl. Ladies first," He was facing Trent, Lindsay, Beth, Heather, Leshawna, and I. "Since we have no ladies here, Gwen!" He turned to face Gwen and the guys.

"I don't know…Duncan?" Gwen sighed. He went to Gwen's side. Trent, on the other hand, was utterly shocked. And his face showed it.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I can't believe she just went ahead and chose Duncan! I mean, they're kind of alike, and now she wants to be on the same team, wh-what am I supposed to make of that?! You think you know a person..." Trent trailed off, but saw Tawny and Blaire and left the trailer, slamming the door.

* * *

"I choose the BEAUTIFUL Lindsay!" Trent announced. Lindsay jumped with joy, whereas I raised an eyebrow at him. He chose Lindsay?! Oh boy, he's not taking this well.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"The BEAUTIFUL? What, was Trent trying to tick me off by picking Lindsay like that? You think you know a person." Gwen looked away from the camera.

* * *

"Because I like to keep things cool, I pick Leshawna." Leshawnawalked to Gwen and Duncan and gaveGwen a high five.

"The girls are back in town!"

"OH, YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE SO GREAT IS IF YOU PICKED TYLER!!!" Lindsay squealed to Trent. I face palmed myself and shook my head.

"Tyler's not in the game anymore." Trent replied.

"Seriously? Bummer!"

"I chose Justin." That ticked off Gwen.

"Oh, pick all the good looking contestants. That'll get you far."

"It will in showbiz."

"DJ." DJ was now on Gwen's team.

"Beth." She was now on Trent's team. I could see where I was going to be.

"Remember, keep your enemies closer." Leshawna whispered even though I could hear her. That's not a bad idea. I even read it in _The Art of War_. Maybe I should be on Gwen's team…

"No, really? You don't mean…" Leshawna glared at Gwen, who gave in. "Fine. We choose Heather." Heather was honestly shocked. Couldn't blame her either. I thought Gwen would pick me for sure!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"It's about time someone realized who was the most valuable player here. I mean, seriously people!" Heather told the camera.

* * *

Meanwhile, Trent had to either pick Owen or Harold. Neither were really the greatest teammates. But at least Owen won last season.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"How do you choose between flakier and flakiest? At least Owen got farther in the last game, that's worth something. Dude, I don't know, I had to pick someone." Trent sighed.

* * *

"I choose Owen." Trent decided. Owen cheered and gave Trent a high five. However, there was regret written all over his face.

"Uh, hello?! Don't wicked skills count for anything?! I mean, who else here went to film camp? And is fully trained as a junior cinematographer, with a thorough knowledge of lighting filters, film stock—" Harold started to explain, and then Gwen shut him up. Oh my God, he is perfect for the challenge! I've got to buddy up to Gwen's team! Please pick Izzy, Trent, please…

"I pick Harold, if for no other reason but to shut him up."

"Wise choice." Harold grinned.

"There were no other guys left."

"Still."

"Um…" Who's Trent going to pick, me, or Izzy? Please Izzy! "I guess Izzy's on my team then. Izzy!" She didn't respond and started to whistle.

"She likes to be called Kaleidoscope." Lindsay said. Right, her new name. That could be difficult for Trent.

"Ah, right, E-scope!"

"Here! Hi!" Izzy went to join Trent.

"I guess I get Julie." Gwen rolled her eyes. She should be lucky to get me!

"Not…exactly." Chris interjected. "Remember that little thing she got last season?" Chris grinned.

"No…"

"You don't mean…" Trent's eyes widened.

"Ah, come on!" Duncan yelled.

"That's right! Julie here gets to PICK which team she gets to be on! Betcha didn't see THAT ONE coming! MAN, I'M GOOD!" Chris laughed.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Yes! I'm still Contestant X, the mystery girl! Oh yeah!" Julie punched the air with her fist.

"I can't believe this! She could be on my team! No way am I letting her on my team!" Gwen and Trent both said, at different times and separately of course.

"How come she gets all of the benefits? What makes her so special?" Duncan asked. "Just because she's a Cali girl or something?"

* * *

"That is SO not fair!" Heather exclaimed. Just like I expected. I should rely on Tawny and Blaire more often.

"Um…" I wondered out loud. "I pick…Gwen!" I quickly scurried to Gwen's group.

"Gwen, I christen your team the SCREAMING GAFFERS! Trent, you're the Killer Grips." Chris quickly smiled. Huh, gaffers. Not bad, not bad at all.

"Grip? I don't want to be a grip!" Beth trembled.

"Please! It's not like being called a gaffer is something to brag about. It sounds like something that has rabies!" Heather replied. A crash.

"I'm sick and tired of getting no respect around here!" Two interns, a guy with a weird orange beanie on and a large black guy threw a few things to the floor and walked away.

"Okay, since we're running late now and don't seem to haveany more um…whatever those two crew dudes did, we better get going! Your challenge: for each team to set up a film set!" So glad I went on the team Harold was on. His knowledge should get us far. Leshawna chuckled.

"We'll be scarfing flapjacks by seven."

"Oh will you?" Chris asked slyly. "As location manager, I want your sets to go…THERE!" Chris pointed to a ridiculously high cliff, a cliff that looked a lot like the one back in Camp Wawanakwa.

"You just love doing this to us!" Gwen replied.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Hey, doesn't that look an awful lot like—" I was cut off by Chris.

"CHEF! CLEAR FOR TRAFFIC UP THERE?!" Chris yelled through a walkie-talkie. There was no reply. "LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! You have to haul all of this equipment up the hill yourselves!" Chris chuckled and ran away. I looked at all of the lighting equipment and cameras to haul and grimaced.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Two reasons why I hate Chris: Number one, he's always being sadistic and cruel to us. Number two, HE NEVER LETS ME SPEAK! GOD, HE'S SO ANNOYING LIKE THAT! HE ALWAYS CUTS ME OFF! JEEZ!" Julie threw her hands in the air and huffed.

* * *

"Crap. He's so going to pay for this." I threatened.

"Let's just take this stuff up." Gwen shrugged and started to carry a few lights and cameras. I was busy carrying my own things when I heard a weird conversation break out. I wasn't too focused on listening in or watching their faces, but my natural tendency to eavesdrop took over.

"What are you doing with him?!" A guy whined. Is that Trent?

"Uh…we're on the same team?" Gwen replied. Was she referring to Duncan? He was pretty jealous of him.

"And WE'RE on the same team." I don't know who Trent was referring to. And then there was a crash.

"People! This is crazy inefficient! I say we organize relay style and pass the equipment up!" Heather called out. She has a point.

"If you say it, we're not doing it." Gwen simply replied. Harsh much?

"WAIT A MINUTE!" I yelled. "Heather's onto something here. If we pass the stuff up quickly enough, we might be able to beat the other team. And look at how fast they're going." I gestured to the other team, which wasn't making much progress. "I say we use Heather's idea." All I got was weird looks from every single team member. "Just because Heather hurt us and broke our spirit one way or the other doesn't mean we should hold it against her all of the time. Here, I'll even cut you all a deal," I paused. Should I do this? This is probably my ultimate sacrifice, but I can't stand to see Heather like this, not after that dream. "If we lose this challenge, you're all absolutely free to vote me off. Even if I don't get all of the votes, I'll leave and never bother any of you again. Now, are we going to win this challenge or not?!"

"I agree!" Harold said, and then he started running up the hill.

"All right! DJ, start making your way up there. Then Leshawna, then Duncan, then Heather, then Gwen, and I'll go last. Hand your stuff off to someone who doesn't have anything in their hands. Then that person will run to the next and the next until we reach the top. LET'S GO!" DJ was gone, and soon enough, everyone was. After a few seconds of waiting, I ran with my stuff. That little stop had given me enough strength to start running again with all of the heavy equipment, and with our teamwork, Harold ended up getting all of our stuff set up at the top of the hill first. After a few minutes, the rest of MY team (not Gwen's; I'm in control this time) was back at the base of the hill, staring at a trailer.

"IT'S NECK AND NECK PEOPLE! NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE HEAVY STUFF!" Chris yelled at us through a megaphone. Of course, he expected us to do this crap. And of course, Trent's team was also at the same pace we were going.

"How the hell are we going to get those trailers all the way up the hill?!" Trent wondered out loud.

"I have a great idea! Let's get Tyler to do it!" Lindsay exclaimed. Tyler wasn't even in the competition.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"It's so great to be free from Heather! I can totally contribute more and stuff! I have a lot of unwrapped potential you know." Lindsay nodded. Tawny and Blaire both face palmed themselves.

* * *

"HE'S NOT HERE ANYMORE!" Trent, Beth, and Izzy yelled at her.

"Oh right! Bummer!" Lindsay added dejectedly. Our group stood still, looking at the trailer as though it were some sort of weird spacecraft.

"Owen, there's catering at the top of the hill! Just take that trailer up there with you and you can eat." Trent goaded Owen.

"Eat? I love eat!" I saw Owen starting to drag the trailer up the hill using his belt.

"YEE HA!!! GO OWEN!" Izzy yelled from the top of the trailer Owen was now dragging.

"Hey, new best friends, how do you like that?! Are you gonna cry together, you punk wannabees? 'Cause your team is going down!" Now Trent took that too far. I know he's pissed at Gwen, but this is too much. I'm winning against him no matter the cost.

"Oh, not cool. Not cool at all." Duncan commented.

"Oh, don't worry. We are taking Trent—I mean, THAT TEAM—down!" Gwen replied through clenched teeth. Yes, we've got something! We're gonna win this now! She looked over to DJ.

"Oh no. Don't expect me to—what if the trailer slips and rolls back down the hill and possibly hurts someone? What then? I couldn't handle being responsible for that!" He's not worried about hurting himself? Oh no, we're not letting this one escape our clutches. I couldn't control myself from blowing up. I just couldn't.

"Okay, okay, okay, listen close and listen hard. I did NOT come all the way from Los Angeles, California to have my ass creamed by OWEN just because you couldn't pull one trailer up a hill! WE'RE LOSING GROUND ON THE OTHER TEAM AS WE SPEAK! WE NEED THIS FOR THE WIN! AND IF YOU'RE NOT MAN ENOUGH TO DO THAT, THEN WE'LL PUT THE BLAME ON YOU FOR LOSING THE CHALLENGE!!!! AND I CAN GUARENTEE YOU'LL BE VOTED OFF IF YOU DON'T WIN THIS FOR US, GOT THAT?!?!?!" I was now screaming at the top of my voice. I could almost see that Owen had stopped to look down at what was happening. He would've seen a teenager screaming her head off to a tall Jamaican Canadian.

"I said NO! I'M NOT GOING TO DO IT!"

"THIS IS FOR THE FUCKING WIN!!! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS IN GEAR AND PULL THAT TRAILER BEFORE I FORCE YOU TO DO IT!" I dropped my voice dangerously low, to a whisper in fact. "Or I can guarantee that you will regret obstructing our path to an easy win. Now, do you have that down?" He remained silent. "I don't think you heard me. I said…DO YOU HAVE THAT DOWN DJ?!?!" I looked at him. He was broken.

"MA'AM YES MA'AM!!!" He started to haul the trailer up the hill faster than I would have ever anticipated.

"Ah, I can see we've got this in the bag." I smiled to myself and started walking, but stopped and turned around. "Coming?" The others were wide eyed and slackjawed with shock. Just the way I like it.

* * *

**Trent's POV**

We're almost there! We're almost at the top of the hill! So Owen started to slow down. I don't see Gwen's team coming up anytime soon. Gwen…I hope she's not too ticked about that comment…wait, what am I thinking? She doesn't love me anymore…but I heard panting, and it wasn't coming from Owen. It was DJ carrying the trailer up and ahead of us! And before I knew it, he won! I can't believe this! He won! No!

"Ah, dude! No!" I yelled out loud. Whoops, that was supposed to stay in my head. I saw the rest of Gwen's team come up the hill and go to DJ, congratulating him. Man, we could've been the winning team.

"So does this mean we win?" Leshawna asked.

"Well…not…exactly." Chris drew out for us all to suffer. "That was only the first part of the challenge. Did I neglect to mention that?" Of course he did. He ALWAYS neglects to mention something. "It's time to make a movie!" Chris led us to two sets, one that looked like a living room and the other looked like a detective's office. "And what we've got here," He gestured to the home set. "Is the set for a tear jerker, starring an elderly lady considering her long life." Boring, and I voiced this too. "You'll be making a feature about a thug who tries to go straight but can't resist the lure of the street!" So we have the tear jerker and they have the bad gone good going back to bad, as I like to call it, movie. I can tell who's going to win this one. But why does their movie seem oddly familiar?

* * *

**DJ's POV**

Wow, our movie seems an awful lot like the life of someone here…

"Yeah, it's been done." Gwen replied.

"Hey, what about lunch? We have been working for eight hours and you are legally obligated by union rules to give us a meal break." Heather butted in. Oh boy, here she goes again.

"Oh yeah? Who here's in the union?" Only Chris raised his hand. "Yeah, I thought so. And now it's time to choose an actor to perform a scene. Chef, give the teams their scenes." Chef tossed us a script and tossed the other team a script too.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I am hereby forming Local One of United Workers Against Chris! Who's with me? Everybody?" Heather asked with pep in her voice.

* * *

**Trent's POV**

"Alright, we need an old lady." I commanded after looking at the script. Please, anyone but…

"Oh please! Let me do it! It's gotta be me! I've got an old soul! I'm like, 87 years old on the inside 'cause I've been reincarnated, like, a whole bunch of times! Actually, I'm the reincarnation of my very own Granny Mavis!" Izzy switched to a different voice, one with a Scottish bur. "Aye there laddie! You spilled a wee bit of haggis on your kilt! And I can tell you of the Lochs a rising up to the claw!" At least she's determined, and if we say no, she'll just keep pestering us. We don't have time for that.

"Okay, fine!" I yelled along with the rest of my teammates. At least THEY agree with me.

* * *

**My POV**

"Big lucky parmesano." Gwen said looking over the script.

"A tough guy." Heather mused. She looked at Duncan, who was carving a skull into a wood post.

"What?"

"You HAVE got to play the gangster." Gwen almost commanded.

"Don't typecast me; I don't even know if I can act!" Duncan argued.

"You want HAROLD to do it? He's as tough as butter!" Heather insulted Harold. He's not going to take too kindly to that.

"And don't expect DJ to be your tough guy, that's for sure!" Chef butted in. I didn't bother giving him a weird look; I'd be pummeled if I did.

"How can you say that?" DJ whimpered.

"Come on! This is a role you were born to play! You just have to be you." Gwen tried to convince Duncan. _Minus the real creampuff inside that always comes out whenever he's with Courtney_, I thought to myself, and then chuckled.

"What?" Duncan asked me. Whoops.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Yes, it is a role Duncan was born to play. He just had to be himself." Julie declared pompously. She snickered. "Minus his gooey inside." Julie burst into full fledged laughter, and Tawny and Blaire joined in for a good laugh.

* * *

Thankfully, he already snatched the script from Gwen's hands.

"Oh, nothing." I need the make-up trailer confessional now!

"ALL RIGHT! SET UP THE SHOP! WHOEVER CAN GET CHEF, MR. EX-ARMY CORPORAL, TO SHOW ANY EMOTION, WINS THE CHALLENGE!" Chris instructed through his trademark megaphone. Chef growled in rage to intimidate us. I wasn't intimidated at all. He's almost like Duncan: big, tough exterior, mushy creampuff interior. Piece of cake.

* * *

**Lindsay's POV**

Oh my gosh, it is so great to be free from Heather! I can finally do what I want to! I finished applying makeup to Iman…or was it Inna?

"Your makeup? GORGEOUS! And now, I'm going to make you really feel like an old lady!" I pushed her down into a ball.

"I feel like eighty years have already passed since I already started to adjust the lighting!" Inna—yes, Inna—cried out.

"Don't…move!" Beth said, straining to adjust the lights. My BETH Friend Forever!

"Oh don't worry. I can't. My legs are totally asleep!" Inna shot back. Oh wow, she must be really upset!

"Could I get that last line again?" Oman asked. Inna grabbed a big microphone and shouted into it. It was so loud that I had to cover my ears!

"MY LEGS ARE ASLEEP!" Oman screamed in terror before falling down onto the ground. Oh my gosh, Inna's really upset!

* * *

**Duncan's POV**

What is UP with this script? It's so weird, not what I had in mind. And all of the lines! I should not have let Gwen convince me to do this. However, being away from that awards ceremony is probably worth it…nah!

"One, I can't memorize this much and two, these lines are way outta left field."

"Just say what's written and quit being such a prima donna!" Heather yelled at me. Prima donna? I could already feel the urge to punch her square in the face.

"We all have a job to do." Leshawna added.

"So you just stand there and look pretty. Okay?" She poked my arm. "Pretty boy?" ALL RIGHT, THAT'S TAKING IT TOO FAR!

"Don't call me pretty! The last guy who called me pretty ended up looking a lot less pretty." I crumpled up the page of the script I was looking at to make sure she knew who she was dealing with. "Get it?"

"You are not pretty, okay Duncan?! You're hot, okay?! You look HOT, SEXY, STUD-LIKE!" Gwen yelled at me. Damn, she knows how to make me feel good. Now if I can only get Princess to say that to me…

"That's better."

* * *

**Courtney's POV**

What…the…HELL?!?!?! I screamed.

"HOLY CRAP! I CAME AS FAST AS I COULD! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" Chase ran in, panting.

"DID YOU SEE THIS?!?!?!" I replayed the part where it had MY BOYFRIEND being suckered by GWEN, who just told him he was hot, sexy, and stud-like! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!! If that's not proof that he no longer loves me, I don't know what is! Chase looked crestfallen.

"That? That's nothing to worry about." I was about to say something, but then…"Before you go mouthing off about how I'm wrong, hear me out." Mouthing off?! "Gwen needs a win. Duncan doesn't like the script, and he's the only one on the team capable of playing that part in the movie. So Gwen tells him what he needs to hear to get his head back in the game. Got it?" Well, it makes sense…but I'm not admitting that.

"BUT—!"

"Ah, ah, ah! No more arguments, case closed. You're just overreacting, which just proves that you still have that pole up your ass, as Duncan put it so cleverly back in season one."

"YOU—!"

"Nope! Just sit down and relax. I'll get you a cup of chamomile tea. And don't call me again unless you're really in danger. You made me run for nothing!" Chase scoffed before leaving the tent. Is he really right? Ugh, I can't be so sure. I turned back to the screens, only to find that Beth was complaining about the lighting. I must have missed a lot! Then Heather was caught in a light cable. She was dangling there, and Harold had to help her! I giggled at the sight. Thank you Leshawna!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I've been working on my courting skills. Yup, I've mastered girl whispering." Harold looked proud of himself.

"There's no such thing as girl whispering you dolt!" Tawny shooed him out of the trailer.

"As annoying as hanging around Harold would be, he'll make an easy to persuade alliance member, and right now, milady needs all the help she can get." Heather revealed her true intentions. Blaire was so enraged that she literally kicked Heather out of the trailer.

"Nice one Blaire!" Tawny gave her a high five.

* * *

"She got exactly what she deserves." I heard a voice. I turned around, prepared to fight whoever was there, but it was just Chase with a cup in his hand. "I got you your tea." He set it down beside me.

"Thanks." Well, I had to at least thank him! He didn't have to do this for me.

* * *

**Chef "Master Chief" Hatchet's POV**

"AND NOW, TIME FOR THE FINAL HAIR AND MAKEUP!" Pretty boy yelled through the megaphone. I saw the maggots scrambling for their lives. Then DJ. He was rushing about applying makeup!

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I yelled and grabbed DJ as fast as I could and forced him into a chair.

"What?! My momma always told me I had a flair for applying her church makeup, so I figured—" I didn't even let him finish.

"WE'VE GOT TO TOUGHEN YOU UP YOU BIG OL' MARSHMALLOW!"

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I've gotta admit; I see a bit of myself in DJ. But I had to develop the macho in myself without somebody like me helping." Chef chuckled sinisterly. "This is gonna be fun." He was here secretly because he wasn't allowed to use the Confession Cam, but Tawny and Blaire let him in anyways. They didn't even crack a smile or joke because they knew what would happen if they angered Chef: they'd die.

* * *

"HERE'S THE DEAL: I'll help you man up and win this thing! You don't ask any stupid questions and you split the prize with me." I had to at least get some money! Pretty boy's paycheck isn't enough for me. "Like they say, it's an offer you can't refuse. I won't let you." I added threateningly. DJ seemed to agree, so I threw him back to his team. I'm going to toughen him up if it's the last thing I do!

* * *

**Chris's POV**

"And thaaaaaaattttt'ssss…ACTION!" I clapped the clapboard for the Gaffers to start their movie. This is going to be good.

"When I was a young schoolgirl in Poland, frolicking through the fields with my pet goat in the summer sun, those were my happiest days!" Duncan started acting. Wait a minute…

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Ho...ly...crap. HE'S NOT A SCHOOLGIRL! WHAT THE HELL WAS UP WITH THAT?!" Julie sighed. "I'm beginning to think we got the wrong script..." Tawny was laughing, and Blaire was just stoic.

* * *

"Did you check the envelopes before you labeled them?" I asked Chef, who was sitting beside me.

"I thought you checked them." He replied. Then it clicked: our little mess-up just became TV gold! We both snickered in delight. We checked up on Izzy's performance. Wow, um…it's kinda…yeah, this is TV gold! Their scripts are mixed up! I kept snickering along with Chef. But we both stopped after Izzy became…well, Izzy. We turned back to Duncan.

"I've lived a good, long life. I've loved, I've laughed, but what I miss most of all is my sweet little goat." He looked up, eyes watery. Oh…my…God, this is so sad. I couldn't help but start getting teary-eyed. "Shope! Oh," and then I couldn't understand him. What was he saying? Oh well, this was so much better than Izzy's performance! Chef started to sniffle, and then he went into full fledged crying! He walked to Heather and Leshawna, who had tissues, and started to use them. I was almost going to tears too, but I had to announce the winner.

"C-c-c-cut. Okay, enough. It's too much for Chef to take. Duncan clearly wins for best performance. The Screaming Gaffers win it!"

* * *

**DJ's POV**

I walked up to Chef, who was still crying after Duncan's performance.

"You're going to teach me how to be a tough guy?" I asked him snidely. This was just awful! Appalling!

"Tough guys cry! And did you notice how your team just won? Who was the judge DJ, huh? Who?" He fixed the competition! Maybe the script mix up wasn't exactly his fault, but he just fixed it! He cried for us, but not for the other team! I can't take this kind of underhandedness. He can't save me forever. And cheating is just plain wrong!

* * *

**My POV**

"I can't believe we won! And we didn't even have to haul everything back down the hill!" I exclaimed with joy.

"Yeah Duncan, you did a great job acting." DJ simply congratulated him. Is something on his mind?

"Thank you, thank you." Duncan theatrically replied.

"Don't think you're not so bad yourself DJ! You hauled up the trailer for us!" I said.

"Ah, but you were the one who got me to do it."

"True, true." I admitted. DJ went ahead, and I stayed behind with Duncan. "So tell me Duncan: were you thinking of Courtney when you were acting? Or that dog you had that ran away when you were five? Um…don't take it as an insult." I quickly added.

"Like I'd tell you!" Duncan scoffed.

"But you think of her every day, don't you?" I looked at him. He stopped.

"Yeah…I guess I do." We started walking again. "So, is she really with Chris?"

"Yeah." I whispered, but then stopped. "Yeah! Go back to your trailer! Meet me in front of the makeup trailer in one hour!" I ran off to see Tawny and Blaire once more. "Tawny! Blaire!"

"Julie?!" Tawny incredulously asked. "Oh my God, you're okay!" Tawny ran up and hugged me.

"We heard everything. Thanks to you, we've managed to develop secret ways of getting messages to each other without having to scramble the signal of the cameras all the time. But congratulations on the win!" Blaire said.

"Thank you! It took a lot out of me to get DJ to haul up the trailer for us, but it was so worth it in the end!" I replied. "But…I have a request."

* * *

Me: OMG! WHAT'S THE REQUEST?!

Noah: Like I'd know. You never tell us anything about what's coming up.

Tyler: Yeah dude, I wish we knew what was going to happen next.

Nikki: Well, you can't. Lane keeps that information top secret.

Me: That is very true.

Cody: At least Gwen is happy again.

Noah: Yes, everyone got their happy ending.

Sadie: Awwww!!! Isn't that sweet?!

Katie: Totally sweet!

Nikki: Hello, what about Duncan and Courtney? They're still not together! And I'm looking forward to what their reunion will be like! Maybe it'll involve a lot of kissing and maybe even--

Me: OKAY NIKKI! Hehehe, we can't type that stuff on Fanfiction, not when there could be little kids reading this!

Nikki: This isn't TV and what kid would read a T rated fanfic? And seriously, you make characters curse in this fanfic. A lot. Who knows if "little kids" could be reading?

Me: Riiiiiight. Anyways, please guess for the dreams! I need more guesses! No one has been guessing at all! So review please! And don't even dare guess anymore Nikki! I need to give others a chance! I'm serious!


	19. Tension, Parties, Go!

**A/N: **Hey people out there! This is comin' at you live from Dreammount Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, it's TOTAL...DRAMA...ACTION...IN CINEMASCOPE! That's right, everyone is fatter than they actually are in real life--except for fat people! They're skinny! Did you get that reference? BONUS POINTS FOR WHO GETS IT! Hint: it's about a musical involving a fat main character. I'm kinda jumpy, so yeah. It's a natural high; I didn't incur this upon myself. So review, disclaimer is in the first chapter. By the way, I don't think I'm going to go into too much depth for the next in-between time. Sorry! And I revised the last chapter due to errors in text! It's been revamped, so reread it!

* * *

"Need more food? You know we'll always provide it if you ask." Blaire looked at me questioningly.

"No. I want to see Courtney." Tawny and Blaire both stopped laughing.

"That's tricky. The staff area is closed off to the contestants. And the cameras. Even if we did manage to get you in, it would be very hard to sneak you through. It would involve mass scrambling, and not just for a few seconds. We're talking minutes." Blaire pondered for a minute.

"WE CAN GET CHASE TO DO IT!" Tawny suddenly blurted out loud.

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah! I can go ahead and find Chase and tell him to scramble the cameras we need him to scramble at a certain time, and then you can sneak through to see Courtney. Then, if Chris ever finds that a certain chunk of static shows up in his feed, he'll go to Chase because he's the tech expert, and Chase can just lie out of it. It's genius!" Tawny exclaimed.

"Yeah, but there's one more detail before I forget…" I looked away.

"Um…what?" Blaire asked unsurely.

"I might've, MIGHT'VE, told Duncan that he can come too. Not that I actually said where we were going, just to meet me outside the trailer in an hour." I glanced at both of them.

"You WHAT?!" Blaire shouted. "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! IF YOU DO THIS, YOU'LL BLOW YOUR ENTIRE COVER! HE'LL FIND OUT THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THE CHALLENGES AND WANT IN! AND WHO KNOWS WHO ELSE HE'LL TELL?! THE OTHERS?! AND NOT ONLY THAT, HE'LL SEE THAT YOU'RE BUDDY-BUDDY WITH US!!! HE HATES US!!! AND…he just might tell Chris. And we'll both be fired, and you'll be in HUGE trouble. We've already lost Phil and Brian. We can't afford to lose any more workers." Blaire looked down to her shoes.

"I know what we can do. You'll have to tell me how to get to where Courtney is. You won't guide me because you'll be in the trailer. No, you'll be with Tawny, and you'll both go to Chase." I conjectured.

"No, you know what? I don't think this is a good idea." Tawny said.

"You're making sense for once Tawny. Good job!" Blaire sarcastically observed.

"Yeah, thanks. Julie, as much as we would LOVE to help you and use your idea (because it is awesome), this is too much too soon. I think we need to lay low for a few weeks tops."

"Why? Is there something you're not telling me?" I asked. Tawny and Blaire looked at each other.

"Yeah. About that next challenge…" Blaire scratched her head.

"You're going back to Wawanakwa. Well, first you'll be in the studio set you asked about the other day, but then you'll be going back to Wawanakwa." Tawny completed Blaire's sentence. Oh no, not that place!

"The theme is supposed to be the Teen Beach flick, like the ones from the '50s." Blaire added. I knew the one, all too well. I'm even well versed on the lingo, being from California and all. "In the studio set, you'll have to balance on a surfboard with sharks in the water and Chris obstructing your way to victory. And it's going to be freezing cold. He's going to force you to wear swimsuits."

"No problem. I'm used to swimming in cold weather." I laxly dismissed.

"Anyways, after that, you'll be going back to Wawanakwa, where there'll be a sand castle building contest. By the way, whoever wins the surfing challenge gets a 30 minute head start on the sand castle building contest. There is a tiebreaker Chris has, but it hasn't quite been cleared, so he'll resort to a dance contest." Blaire continued.

"All right…" This was a lot to take in. "I'm staying on Gwen's team. They'll have the upper hand in this; I'm not worried at all." Then a knock at the door. "Oh my gosh, who is that?"

"We'll hide. Open the door." Blaire and Tawny proceeded to hide behind the clothes. I calmed myself and went to open the door, but it was flung open.

**

* * *

**

Duncan's POV

What is taking so long?! Julie was supposed to meet me here! Where the fuck is she?! I'm getting to those two girls, and I'm going to get an answer out of them whether they like it or not! I quickly flung the door open. And who else could it be but a very much startled Julie?

"D-d-d—Duncan?" She asked. Wow, is she that frightened?

"I'm here. What did you want?" She was in the confessional? Maybe she wanted to confess something?

"About that…never mind anything I said. Something…came up. Sorry." She put her head down and started to walk past me. I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me, just like I did with Courtney.

"What did you want? You called me out for a reason, what is it?" I whispered to her.

"Nothing." She jerked her hand out of my grip and walked away.

"What did you do this time jerk-a-saurus?" A nagging voice chided. Not her again…I turned around, only to find those two girls at the door.

"Julie wanted to meet me here about something, but now she won't tell me what it is!" Wait, why am I telling these girls what I'm doing here?!

"Eh, we don't know." The brunette waved her hand.

"Hm…she looks upset. Tawny, what do you think happened?" The Asian chick asked the brunette. So her name's Tawny.

"Like I'd say anything in front of this jerk! If anything, he caused it, I'm sure!" She pointed at me. Two can play at this game.

"Oh yeah?! Maybe you said something!" I stepped to her. She was asking for a punch in the face.

"I didn't! I still think you did!" She then let out a growl.

"Tawny! Come on you two, break it up!" The Asian tried to break up our staring contest.

"NO!" Tawny and I both yelled at the same time.

"Tawny, don't pick fights with people younger than you." Blaire suddenly chided. Wait, they're not my age?

"But he's just asking for it! I wanted to kick him in the gut, and then punch him in the jaw…" Tawny started, but I interrupted her.

"I could do much worse things to you!" I shot back. Man, she was asking for it now! If that Asian chick weren't there, I'd have punched Tawny and held a knife to her throat right now!

"THAT'S IT!!!! TAWNY, YOU ARE COMING WITH ME BACK INTO THE TRAILER! YOU, DUNCAN, ARE GOING TO REPORT BACK TO YOUR TRAILER IMMEDIATELY!" Who was this chick and what right did she have to boss me around?!

"Says who?" I asked.

"SAYS ME!!! GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR BEFORE I MAKE IT GET IN GEAR!" She slammed the door, dragging a kicking and screaming Tawny back into the trailer.

**

* * *

**

Trent's POV

I stayed outside, leaning on a tree. Gwen finally came out of that trailer with the rock music blaring. They must be celebrating their win. I had to confront her about her relationship with Duncan.

"Duncan's performance made me realize some stuff. Like I've loved, lost. But what I miss most is my sweet little goat Gwen." I smiled.

"Baaaaaaa!" She giggled. Man, I love that laugh.

"You guys are just friends, right?" I asked her.

"Worry not! The guy has a secret photo of Courtney under his pillow. And really, he's no Trent." Phew! Wait, WHAT?!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I'm still trying to get over the shock. He has a picture of COURTNEY under his pillow?! Wow, that's just...wow." Trent looked away. However, he forgot that Blaire and Tawny were in the trailer, and they were planning to blackmail Duncan with it--at least, Tawny was.

* * *

"I'm sorry I called you a wannabee."

"Ugh, whatever! All I know is, I don't want to be you right now!" Oh no…was she saying…?

"Because you're going to dump me?"

"No chance! More like because you have to go vote someone off." She was worried about that? Okay, phew! At least she wasn't about to dump me.

"Eh, whatever! As long as you're still here, I'm good."

* * *

**Courtney's POV**

I gave a great sigh of relief. She doesn't like Duncan, and he clearly doesn't like her. He has my photo under his pillow! A little creepy and girly, but that's why I love him! I sighed again.

"Something wrong?" Chase asked me.

"No, something right. Gwen and Duncan don't like each other." I said happily.

"That's good news, though I did know it all along. You just kept denying it." Wow, killjoy from Chase. But I might as well come clean.

"Okay, you're right. I did keep denying it. He said he loved me back at Playa des Losers when he was voted off. I guess I wanted to see that he didn't JUST say that."

"Well, now you know he didn't just say that; he really does love you." Chase, for once, was being polite.

"And it feels great." I turned my attention back to the screens.

* * *

**Third Person POV**

A very distraught Julie left to the quiet trailers (the party stopped), where the other girls were sitting around doing whatever they were doing. Gwen was drawing in her sketchpad, Izzy was doing somersaults on her bed, Heather, Lindsay, and Beth were primping themselves, and Leshawna was just sitting on her bed. Julie immediately saw that everyone was in need of some fun in their lives.

"Card game anyone?" Julie went to her duffle bag to get her deck of cards. Gwen, Leshawna, and Izzy agreed to play. Beth would've played, but she was busy with Lindsay, who wouldn't be able to understand the game anyways, and Heather could care less. All four girls agreed on playing BS, Izzy claiming that she had a great poker face. Once they started playing the game, Izzy didn't have a poker face, but she certainly played like an expert. Izzy ended up being the overall winner of a series of matches, but they cut the game short because of dinner and again because Izzy had to leave to the awards ceremony.

At the awards ceremony, it was a different story. Chef was dressed in his regular clothes, but on the drums, forced by Chris to do a drum roll when needed. Chef put on his best fake grin and introduced Chris with a drum roll. Chris calmly walked up to the lectern, smiling at the camera.

"And now it's your turn to cast your votes and determine who will stroll down the Walk of Shame!" Chris spoke into the microphone. Trent's team gasped at the sight. "Under your seats you'll find voting devices. Just press the button of the person you want voted off. It's easy, so…cast your votes! Who will it be? Who will be cast off the set?" That was Chef's cue to do a drum roll while a bulky machine printed out the results. In reality, Tawny and Blaire did the real calculations; they programmed the machine to print out what they wrote down. Chef pointed to the sheet with his drumsticks. "And it looks like all of the votes have been cast! Chef!" Chef handed the sheet to Chris, who looked over it. He grinned on the inside once he saw who was to be voted off. "Remember, if you get a Gilded Chris, you get to stay because, rather suitably, the Gilded Chris represents the luster of fame AND immortal greatness." Chris allowed himself a brief chuckle. "And Gilded Chrises go to Trent, Owen, and Beth." Owen proceeded to eat his because the awards were really foiled covered chocolate. Blaire, Tawny, and Chase had replaced them from the real Gilded Chrises that were originally made. And Chris wasn't too happy when he found out—and right at the awards ceremony too. "And now only three nominees left!" Chris grinned when he thought of a devious twist to put on the vic—I mean, contestants. "And the loser is…Izzy! Time to go!" Chris pointed off the stage.

"I'm not going anywhere! That's not my name!" Izzy crossed her arms and closed her eyes. Chris looked to Chef for some clarification.

"Girl likes to be called Kaleidoscope." Chef shrugged. Chris mentally face palmed himself.

"Can I get a pen here?" Tawny was offstage with Blaire; Chase and Courtney were watching from the surveillance room. Blaire gave Tawny the pen, and Tawny proceeded to throw it at Chris's head. It hit right on her target. It bounced off Chris, who rubbed his sore head.

"Score one for the good guys!" She yelled offstage.

"Sorry Chris! I didn't know she'd do that, I swear!" Blaire immediately tried to cover up Tawny's drastic mistake. No one crossed Chris; only a fool would scoff at that notion. Chris picked up the pen on the floor. He proceeded to scribble out Izzy's name and put E-scope in its place.

"It says E-scope now, okay?!" Chris waved the paper. Izzy got up and walked to the stage. "And remember, you can never come back—ever." Two guys dressed in white suits (guess who they are) dragged her off the set and threw her into the limo. Izzy never put up a fight, and they walked back to the set unscathed.

"This was only a dress rehearsal, my darlings!" Izzy waved from the sunroof of the limo and blew kisses. "You'll see my star on the Walk of Fame, mark my words. MARK THEM!" And with that, Izzy was out of sight, a small speck in the distance. All of the contestants were dismissed, and they left to their trailers. After a party with her other teammates, Julie left to go to bed around midnight, and once again, her sleep was anything but quiet.

**

* * *

**

Me: Short chappie this time around.

Eva: Chappie?

Me: Chapter.

Nikki: So Izzy's gone?! Who's next, Trent?!

Me: Oh, I already know the answer. But I'm not telling. Yet.

Nikki: CAN I KNOW?! I WANNA KNOW!

Me: No. Simple as that. As much as I love spoiling things for people, I can't do that. It'll be too many people who'll be angry at me. I can't afford that.

Nikki: Do we get to leave these losers behind soon? I want to bug Duncan again.

Noah: We're right here, you know.

Ezekiel: Right eh. You're being mean to us, and we don't like it--

Nikki: Eh? *former campers start advancing on Nikki and I* Um...you know what? Lane, let's start running right...about...NOW! EVA, I'M SORRY!!!!!


	20. Sleepless Dreams and Dreamless Nights

**A/N: **All right, I am personally pleased with this in-between chappie. Okay, so it might not be my best foray into fluff (if it should even count as that), but I felt I just HAD to put it. Just had to. And it's got plenty of action to keep most people entertained. The ending's botched too, so don't try to remind me too much of how bad a fluff writer I am and how I rushed the ending. I really wanted to get this out today, considering almost no one has been updating their stories.

Not only that, this takes a bunch of inspiration and little tidbits from **Wasting Away Again in Sequesterville** by Person4. I LOVE YOUR WORK IF YOU'RE READING THIS RIGHT NOW! If you can find where I referred to it, I'll give you a dedication. At the moment, since this is another chapter with a dream in it, **this chapter is dedicated to renagirl9** for guessing the reference from the last chapter (it was from the musical **Hairspray **if you wanted to know), and for all of the help she's given! Thanks a ton! Not only that, dichabite guessed what this dream was too, so yeah. If you haven't started reading, this is a Bridgette-centric dream! So let's recap: Dream #1 was Heather, Dream #2 was Lindsay, and Dream #3 is Bridgette. **Guess the other seven (not you dichabite)! PLEASE!** Now without further ado, review, disclaimer is in the first chapter, here is Chappie 19.

By the way, a long block of italicized text is a flashback, in case you wanted to know. Have fun!

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My POV

Door #3. I wonder what's behind this door…nothing. There was absolutely nothing. I turned around and reached for a nonexistent handle. I was now in the woods, in a clearing out of all of the trees surrounding the area. There was already a little blonde haired girl with green eyes waiting, sitting on the ground, looking around as though she were a fish out of water. A couple, probably her parents, was looking over all of their backpacks. It seems that was all they brought.

"Bridge honey, we'll be right back. We need to get chairs. Stay here and don't wander off okay?" The mother, who had blonde hair and piercing green eyes, told Bridgette.

"Yes dearie, we'll be back." The father, who had light brown hair and tan skin, said. They both left. Bridgette looked at her stuffed animal she was holding, a dolphin. She played by herself, simulating ocean sounds while the dolphin swam through the air. After watching this for a minute, I got bored and left to find the parents. After wandering for quite a while, I found them at a parking lot getting out some foldablechairs from their white minivan. A green Jeep drove up with Parks Canada written in black letters. A guy stepped out of the car, and another guy with white hair stepped out, but I don't remember hearing the door open and close. He looked at me with regard, not paying attention to the parents.

"Hello, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"What? Why?" the mother asked.

"Sadly, we're losing jurisdiction over this area, being the outskirts of the national park and all, so it's scheduled for the trees to be cut down around now."

"WHAT?!" the father yelled.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Is there anything we can do to change their minds?" The mother asked calmly.

"I'm sorry, but this has been scheduled for months. There's nothing you can do. The government has sanctioned this, and the saws and tractors should be halfway through."

"NO! WAIT! WE NEED TO GET OUR DAUGHTER!" The father yelled.

"Yes! We need to go back in there to get our daughter! We left her there!" the mother started panicking.

"Hurry. The saws must be about halfway through the forest."

"Let's go Marv!" the mother yelled.

"You got it Tina!" the father yelled. They both ran into the woods. I looked at the white haired man, and he nodded, as though he wanted me to follow them. I took his tacit orders and ran after the parents. As I ran behind them, I heard trees fall to the ground with a loud quake and saws buzzing their way, and it was getting louder. A scream. _Bridgette_, I thought to myself. I reached the clearing.

"Honey, we have to leave!" Tina picked up Bridgette and the rest of the camping gear. Marv slung a few backpacks over his shoulders and they rushed out of there, Bridgette screaming and crying, holding her stuffed dolphin close to her face. A tree had just crashed into the clearing, and with that, I shot out of my bunk with a jolt, breathing hard. So that's why Bridgette fears being left alone in the woods…I curled into myself and sat on the bunk thinking. Why did I have a dream of someone I haven't seen for days? Why do I even keep getting these dreams? I checked my watch. Crap, I missed breakfast. It's around 10 AM. Not my normal wake-up time, but hey, better than at noon right? Everyone was gone, so I assumed they were outside hanging out. I quickly got changed and took a shower. There was not much need to fret over this latest dream. It wasn't too gory, and I didn't have to wrack my brain because Bridgette was still here; she was long gone. Another load off my conscience. I reported straight to Tawny and Blaire. How did last night's voting go down? Who were the only ones who came back again? The memory slipped my mind as I walked into the confessional. They were both playing on…what else…Nintendo DS Lites.

"I'm gonna get you with my blue koopa shell! HI-YA!" Tawny screamed.

"Then I'll just power slide out of it…R.O.B." Blaire calmly replied.

"So what? You're skinny dude himself Waluigi. He's UGLY!"

"Not as ugly as Wario!"

"Um…guys? Hate to interrupt your riveting conversation on Mario Kart, but I need to know who got voted off last night and how it went down." I butted in. It seemed like a suitable time, and I at least knew what they were talking about. They looked at me, looked down to their DSs', pressed a button, and Blaire gave me a sheet of paper.

"Here. This is how it went." I looked at the sheet.

_Trent: Lindsay_

_Lindsay: Izzy_

_Beth: Izzy_

_Owen: Lindsay_

_Justin: Izzy_

_Izzy: Justin_

_Izzy: 3_

_Lindsay: 2_

_Justin: 1_

"Izzy? She's gone? Man, Izzy's cool! If she just didn't mess up and lose it for her team, she could've stayed on! Izzy shall be missed." I looked down.

"I liked her. She brought randomness to the show, which I love." Tawny commented.

"Do you need any food from us?" Blaire asked me.

"No thanks. I think I'll go to the Craft Services tent this time. I have a feeling that I have to be there for some reason."

"Then don't let us stop you." Blaire put her hands up. I thanked them, and left the trailer. I looked down at my watch, only to find that it was 11:45 AM. How did time pass by so quickly in there? I shrugged and left to the tent to see what drama would take place there. And if there wasn't any drama, I'd leave. Simple as that.

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Gwen's POV

It's great to finally be able to talk to Trent again. The tension was probably hurting him, and this is the only time we don't have to worry about teams. Three days. Three days to be together, then a day not together. And so the pattern continues. Trent seems to be fine enough.

"Gwen! Over here!" Trent waved to me after I got my slop from Chef. At least it didn't move this time around. I managed a smile as I took a seat by Trent. However, I noticed was that this wasn't the table I normally sat at, and Duncan was nowhere to be found—at least at this table. Was Trent still trying to avoid him? I thought I told him we were just friends.

We sat anywhere because there were no team tables yet. After all, there's no such thing as "team tables" on the free days. Maybe in two days' time we'll have assigned tables. Trent and I mainly talked about our time here so far, and also about Julie.

"Maybe I should've tried to get her to come to my team." Trent said.

"No, because Duncan won it for our team, not her. But then again, she did help DJ man up and bring up the trailer, and she made us bring up the set equipment faster using HEATHER'S idea."

"Heather? I thought there was a "no following Heather" policy on your team. It's on my team." It is?

"Well, Julie thought differently. Seems she can't hate everyone forever."

"Except Chris. She's becoming more hostile to Chris ever day."

"Who didn't become hostile towards Chris? I guess Julie is starting to crack. I don't know, maybe if we lose, we should vote her off regardless of whether or not she cost our team the win."

"Gwen, you can't possibly hate her that much…can you?"

"She's a bag of surprises. We don't know what kind of trick she'll pull on our team. After watching the finale, I found out that Julie lied to Heather about double crossing me. With that, Julie managed to save me, in a sense. I guess she's useful, but she can trick even more slyly than Heather."

"So is she the most hated person on your list?"

"Second. Despite all of this, I still believe Heather is the most hated person here. Julie could just be double or triple crossing us."

"Like an in-disguise mole." What does that mean?

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Third Person POV

Julie walked in. There was no real drama going on, so she left. Unbeknownst to her, drama was unfolding the minute she left.

"Watch where you're going Cali girl!" Duncan yelled. Julie had bumped into him on her way out. She didn't respond and walked away to the make-up trailer to ask Tawny and Blaire for some food. Duncan walked into the tent, only to find an evil glare from Trent boring into his skull. Duncan merely shrugged and went to get his food. Duncan decided that he'd sit next to Gwen just to piss Trent off for that evil glare. Bad decision. "Mind if I sit here?" Duncan snidely asked. Trent was fuming, but let him sit there because Gwen would then be extremely upset with him and realize that he still didn't like Duncan. Gwen and Duncan both started talking animatedly right away, leaving Trent out of their conversation. The tension inside of Trent had been building up for the past five minutes, and it soon exploded. After Duncan had made a particularly snide comment on clichés, Trent finally mustered up enough courage to tell him to leave the table, but not in his usual laid-back style.

"Leave." Duncan stopped talking with Gwen and looked at Trent.

"No." Gwen looked at Trent, and then back at Duncan, waiting for an answer from either one of them.

"I told you to leave." Trent stood up, an evil glint in his eyes.

"Make me!" Duncan yelled, standing up too. A punch was landed, and it was Trent's fist coming into contact with Duncan's eye. Beth screamed.

Meanwhile, Tawny, Blaire, and Julie were eating their lunch. Blaire's ears pricked. She heard a scream. Distant and faded, but a scream nevertheless. Blaire set down her food.

"We need to get to the Craft Services tent, the fake one, and fast." Julie stopped eating.

"What? Why?" Julie asked.

"Your ears picked something up right?" Tawny asked, now dead serious.

"Yeah. A scream. We need to get there now." Julie realized that Blaire was dead serious (but wasn't she always serious?) and followed Blaire and Tawny out of the trailer. All three of them broke into a sprint, and they reached the tent just in time to see Trent being pulled down to the ground by Duncan, who was already on the ground. Trent packed a pretty big punch in both of his arms—and his legs. Every single contestant was now watching the two guys brawl. Beth and Lindsay were both trembling, Owen and Harold were watching with fascination; Heather expressed no emotion, Leshawna, who wanted to break up the fight, was being held back by DJ, who was extremely concerned for her safety. He knew all too well what happened if you messed with Duncan.

* * *

"_YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Duncan screamed as he landed a punch to Harold's gut. This was back in Playa des Losers, and it was the morning after Duncan had been kicked off the island. Duncan was never able to get revenge on Harold for attempting to vote off Courtney, so he saw that now was a perfect chance to do so._

"_GOSH! I SAID I WAS SORRY!" Harold wheezed._

"_SORRY ISN'T GOING TO CUT IT THIS TIME!" DJ was too scared to intervene and the other campers were just sitting by and watching with an odd fascination. Courtney had just finished her breakfast when she saw what was happening. She ran right up to Duncan and slapped him across the face. She walked back into the building, not even saying a word to Duncan. He rubbed his cheek before running back into the building too, following Courtney. Harold was forgotten, and he lay wheezing on the ground. DJ picked him up and took him to the infirmary that was at the resort._

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Gwen herself was watching, eyes wide with shock. She didn't know Trent was THIS jealous of Duncan. Even after she told him he liked Courtney, he still didn't believe her? DJ knew there were only a few ways this fight would stop: Courtney would intervene (impossible), Trent, Duncan, or both would be sent to the medical tent (likely), Gwen would intervene (she hadn't, so it was impossible), Chef or Chris would intervene (impossible), or someone would pull Duncan and Trent apart from each other (almost 100% guaranteed). And it happened. Tawny pulled Trent away from Duncan, and Blaire pulled Duncan away from Trent. Gwen was still in shock, and when Duncan and Trent almost broke free, Julie stepped in between the two.

"Story, now. Go." There was an explosion of voices, and Julie yelled to quiet everyone. "All right, let me rephrase that: Gwen, story, now, go." Gwen shook her head a little to clear herself, and started telling Julie about how she and Trent were talking, then Duncan came, and she started talking to him.

"Everything went downhill from there. Trent and Duncan soon broke into a fist fight, and you and those two girls came here." Duncan and Trent were wrestling to get free from their human captors, and Trent started to tell his story. It was much the same like Gwen's, but then took a turn when Duncan entered the picture.

"He just had to sit next to her. I was so upset when he started to suck away my quality time with Gwen! So I told him to leave, and we soon started fighting. Then you and these two girls came." Duncan wasted no time in telling his side of the story.

"So musician dude here gave me a glare when I walked in. Just to piss him off, I sat next to his girl. We started talking, and he told me to leave. NO ONE tells me to leave. So he stood up, I stood up, and he punched me in the eye. I—"

"I don't need to hear anymore. Clearly, this is both of your faults. Trent shouldn't have been so jealous, and you shouldn't have been a dick by sitting next to Gwen and talking to her just to anger him." Julie had much more to say to him, but held back so she wouldn't embarrass him. After all, he was smart enough to know what she was going to say next.

"Come on, we're taking you two to the medical tent." Tawny shoved Trent out of the tent, and Blaire followed. Gwen looked at Julie, who still had a stone cold look about her, and ran out of the tent. After a few seconds of standing in that same spot, Julie walked out of the tent. There was a dead silence even after Julie left the tent.

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Beth's POV

"That was scary!" I broke the silence in the tent.

"I know! Who knew Damon and Todd hated each other so much?" I face palmed myself after Lindsay said that.

"It's Duncan and Trent."

"Oh right! I knew that!" Sometimes, Lindsay can be so dumb, but if I'm not friends with her, who will be? And it's nice to be accepted by someone as pretty as her. We started eating again, silence in the tent once more.

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My POV

Today was way too exhausting. Having to break up a fight? Wow, it just knocks the life out of you. I had finished reading _The Art of War_ and _The Prince_, and I didn't feel like playing a card game, so I had nothing to do at 7 PM. I couldn't find Tawny or Blaire, so I went exploring, specifically searching for the medical tent. When I went down a street of studios, I finally found it at the very end. It was a shabby thing, a green tent that had the basic first aid supplies, much like the one in Wawanakwa. I took a peek inside, only to find Chef attending to Trent.

"We're not taking visitors right now, SO LEAVE!" I ran out of the tent and down the street of studios. By the time I reached the trailers, the lights were on, so I went inside.

"Girl, where've you been?" Leshawna asked me.

"Searching for Trent and Duncan. And I found them."

"Really? Where are they?" Gwen stood up.

"They're at the medical tent at the end of the street of studios, but Chef wouldn't let me in to see them." But Gwen was already gone. "Where did she go?"

"Where else? To Trent." Heather replied snidely.

"Did I ask you where she went?" I retorted.

"You asked all of us. And I gave an answer."

"Who said I wanted an answer?" Heather could find no reply to that, so she went back to her primping routine._ I hope Gwen's okay…_

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Gwen's POV

"TRENT! TRENT!" I kept yelling as I ran down a street with huge gray buildings. I reached a shabby green tent with a light coming from inside. I quickly ran in, only to find Chef packing up a bag.

"You too? Man, everyone's coming today."

"I can't stay?" Chef stared at me for a second.

"Fine. I need someone to watch over the two for the night anyways."

"They've been hurt that badly?"

"Duncan has a black eye, Trent has a lot of bruising, as does Duncan…" I didn't pay too much attention. All that mattered was that both guys were hurt terribly. Then I just had to ask a question before he left.

"They'll be better in time for the next challenge, right?"

"They should be fine. Maybe a little pissed off at each other, but fine." Chef left the tent. I grabbed a swivel chair and positioned it between the two beds. I held Trent's hand and gave it a squeeze, but it was limp. He must be sleeping. Duncan stirred a little bit in his sleep. I turned to him.

"I'm here for you too." But I was mainly here for Trent. Sure, Duncan was a good friend and my teammate, but Trent took a greater importance in my mind. After all, he was my boyfriend, even though we were on separate teams. I turned back to Trent, and soon, I was asleep on Trent's bedside.

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Duncan's POV

I waited until Gwen was finally asleep. I had heard her come in, the conversation between her and Chef, Gwen telling me that she was here for me, only to fall asleep next to Trent. I wasn't upset or anything; I was happy. It meant I could sneak out. I had to find Courtney. If she was here, she had to be somewhere on the set. I pulled the fake sleeping routine by covering a few pillows with the blanket to fake Gwen out for as long as I could. It wouldn't work too well, but it just might work well enough. My pain had subsided a long time ago; I could've been dismissed, but I wasn't about to go back to Harold, Owen, and DJ. No, I was going to sleep quietly for as long as I could. I quietly left the tent and started searching the studio lot.

I checked in every single set, every single studio, using my pocket knife and lighter to get through anything in my way from seeing Princess again. With no sense of time, I had long given up the search and was now wandering around. _I can't find her, damnit. I just can't. _

Then I remembered the entrance. Wasn't there a section that was closed off to everyone? Yes, there was, and I had failed to check it. I mentally slapped myself before breaking out into a jog to the gates. And to my left, there was a section that was closed off with a few small metal fences. Perfect. No need to use my knife or anything. I could slip in and slip out without a hitch. I jumped over the fences and quickly made my way through a strangely wooded area. Why are there woods in a film lot? Well, there was a tree by our trailer. I guess anything's possible. I found a few tents, and even a trailer or two. But then there were a few cabins. One of them must have Princess. I flicked on my lighter and went up to each cabin, and sure enough, there were nameplates on them. The first one I went up to had Chris's name on it. Of course he had to have his own place to stay. No trailers for him. I rolled my eyes and moved to another one. William T. "Hatchet". Oh, Chef's cabin. I flicked off my lighter while I made my way to another cabin. Chase. I shrugged and kept moving to each one. There were two others, and they had the two girls' names on them. I found Tawny's first, then another name. Blaire. That's probably the name of that Asian chick. Five cabins and still nothing? I was about to leave when I spotted one final cabin. When I held my lighter up to it, there was no nameplate. Princess. Or not. If not, I'm going to be dead, but hey, when have I ever not taken a risk? I picked the lock in no time at all, and I opened the door and quietly closed it. I flicked my lighter on again, and a dull light lit the room. There was someone in the bed, so I quietly walked to it. When I looked down, I saw her. Princess. So this was her room. Nice digs for someone being held captive by Chris.

I'd have to wake her up now. I can't stay, even though I wanted to so much. Or…I could stay for a short while. It's not like Gwen's going to wake up anytime soon. And hopefully, Princess isn't woken up by anyone in the morning. So like any good delinquent who has a wonderfully uptight girlfriend, I went to the other side of her bed and carefully slid in. I did this one other time, back in Playa desLosers. She completely gave in, so she wouldn't be upset if I did this to her, to surprise her the next morning? Right…I fell asleep before I could think about anything else anymore.

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Courtney's POV

What's this? Why do I feel so…constricted? It didn't take me too long to find out why. It took all of my will to stifle a blood curdling scream. Duncan. _WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?! HOW DID HE EVEN GET HERE?!_And then I noticed how he was positioned. I guess sometime in his sleep, he somehow found his way into the same position he was in back when we slept together in Playa des Losers. Head on my stomach, one hand under my shoulder, an arm around my waist, his leg twined around mine. _Oh no. Should I wake him up this time? What time is it anyway? Is he supposed to be somewhere right now?_ I got a closer look at his face. There was a light blue black indent around his eye. _A fight? Oh Duncan…_I didn't view the footage from yesterday, so I didn't know how he got it. I'll have to ask Chase for it later. But the time. I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand: 9 AM. We're both supposed to have breakfast by now! No time to rest with him, I'll have to wake him up now. I gently shook him.

"Wh-wha?" He had an eye open. "Morning Sunshine." A smirk was now plastered on his face and his other eye was open.

"Get up. It's 9 AM." I sternly told him. I wasn't about to let on that I actually enjoyed being cuddled like that. Then I felt something shift under my shoulder, and before I knew it, he was above me.

"You know, I never got that good morning kiss the last time we did this."

"And you're not getting it now." I managed to push him off me, but made sure he landed on the other side of the bed. I got up and walked to the closet in the cabin. While I was getting out my clothes, I asked him a little question, "By the way, that black eye is very becoming on you. Where did you get it?"

"Haha, very funny Princess. Why don't you find out for yourself? I'm sure you have access to all of the film here." Ugh, he managed to defeat my insult again! That's it, I'm getting changed! I walked—or stomped—to the bathroom and slammed the door.

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Chase's POV

"Hey Court?" I used my master key to open the door to the cabin. Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best thing to do, but it didn't prepare me for what I saw in there. After I closed the door, I saw a guy sitting on Courtney's bed. "Duncan?"

"Hey man. Who are you?" He calmly responded. He didn't look the least bit surprised, which shocked me.

"I'm Chase. I'm the one who has been watching over your girlfriend." Bad decision to say who I was.

"Really?" He furrowed his brow, and in a flash, he was right in front of me. "Are you the one who came up with the idea to hurt Princess and not let her on the second season?"

"No…that was Chris's doing. He's the one who forced her on me."

"You haven't hurt her, have you? Or I'll mess your face up bad." Yikes, he's pissed.

"No, I've been taking good care of her. Trust me, this was the absolute best I could get, according to Chris's standards. Chris wanted to give her the shoddiest conditions he could think of. Think of it as a way of getting revenge on Julie."

"What's his damage anyways? What does he have against her?"

"What doesn't he have against her? She's stolen his spotlight, she's messed up his hair on camera, she saved me after he pushed me into a 1,000 foot high gorge, he's got a lot against her."

"Wait, what? She saved you?"

"I have to really thank her one day. I wouldn't be here right now were it not for her." I looked at him for a second, scanning him from head to toe. "You shouldn't even be here anyways." Then a door opened.

"CHASE! OH NO, YOU FOUND HIM! DUNCAN!" Courtney glared at Duncan. I prevented myself from laughing. This was something out of a TV show, and I loved every second of it.

"What? How was I supposed to know someone would come in here?"

"Chase! You won't tell Chris or Chef, will you?" She was worried, and I couldn't blame her. She knew all too well what both men were capable of. I wanted to fire back an insult, but I held my tongue.

"All right, all right. But we need to get him back to…where are you supposed to be anyways?" Then I remembered the footage from yesterday. "Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. You just made this job ten times harder." Courtney looked at me questioningly. Then I remembered she didn't see what happened yesterday. "Surveillance room, now." I cracked the door open and made sure the coast was clear. I could always wipe this from the cameras' footage later. I signaled for them to follow me, and they both did. We were soon at the surveillance room. I took a seat in a swivel chair. Duncan and Courtney preferred to stand. "All right, yesterday, there was a little bit of a fight in the Craft Services tent."

"A…little?" Courtney looked at me nervously. I managed to replay the footage of the whole fight that had erupted between Trent and Duncan, even showing Julie, Tawny, and Blaire intervening. I need Tawny and Blaire's help.

"I'll be right back." I ran out of the tent to find Tawny and Blaire. No doubt they were already at the make-up trailer.

**

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Gwen's POV

I woke up. I smiled at Trent, and then looked over to Duncan's bed. Strange, I don't remember him turning on his side at all. I got up from the chair and went over to the bed. I lifted the covers, only to find two pillows stacked next to each other. _Crap, he's gone_. Where did he head off to this time? I put the covers back on. Chef is not going to be happy when he finds out that Duncan escaped. How did he even get out without a sound? I must've been too tired to be alert. Where would he go anyways?

**

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Tawny's POV

"Chase, what happened this time?" I asked him as Blaire and I were running with him back to the staff area.

"Oh, you'll see. And you might not like what you see." Chase answered vaguely. I looked at Blaire, who shrugged and went back to running. Soon, we were in front of the surveillance tent. "Prepare yourself." He led us into the tent. And there they were. Arguing.

"GOD DUNCAN! YOU JUST HAD TO GET INTO A FIGHT!"

"Hey, he was the one who punched me first!"

"Just because you didn't follow the rules!"

"Remember Princess, I only break the rules I want to."

"Duncan?" Blaire and I asked at the same time. They both stopped arguing and looked at us.

"Same reaction as that guy over there." Duncan gestured a thumb to Chase.

"That guy is my boyfriend!" I yelled at him, and he looked shocked.

"More importantly, how did you—he—get here?" Blaire asked.

"He snuck out of the medical tent he was taken to after the fight." Courtney explained. "I just saw the footage." Oh shit, the cameras. They probably caught every move Duncan made.

"Chase, honey, check the footage for last night."

"Already did. In fact, right before I went to check on Courtney. It was the whole reason I went to check on her in the first place." Chase sighed. "They caught Duncan. He couldn't be seen that well, but the lighter…I'm going to have to do some major wiping down."

"We need to get him back to the other contestants." Courtney offered.

"You really want me to leave?" Duncan smirked. That stopped Courtney. I could just tell she was thinking, _No, I don't really want you to leave, but you have to or we'll both be dead_.

"Yes. You have to get back to everyone else!"

"Okay, we've got to do some major scrambling. Duncan, do you know your way back?" Chase asked while he was at the control board.

"Yeah, probably."

"Blaire, Tawny, lead him to the metal fences. Once he walks out of those, he'll be safe, but I don't know for how long. If he's supposed to be in the medical tent, I have no doubt someone has already found out he's gone." Chase pressed a few buttons. "Oh crap, someone has. Gwen." The screen showed a very worried Gwen looking at a lumpy bed and Trent. Then I had a brilliant idea.

"You know what? How about Blaire and I stay here and Courtney leads him to the metal fences? We can trust you not to leave, right?" I asked slyly. Courtney nodded.

"Chase, are you ready?" She asked.

"You won't have much time, so you have to run. Ready…set…" Courtney grabbed Duncan's hand. "GO!" In an instant, the couple was gone in a mad dash for the fences. I grinned.

"You wanted them to go together, didn't you?" Chase asked.

"I want to see what happens. Now shhhhh!" I trained my eyes on the screen.

**

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Courtney's POV

I can't believe Tawny forced him upon me like that! I don't really want him to leave; I'd rather have him stay for the next two days. But Chris is really strict, and I'm not about to get in trouble with him. We reached the fences, and all Duncan had to do was jump over them and I wouldn't be able to see him again. I turned to him.

"Go." I averted my eyes, I was that torn about leaving him. If I saw his face, I'd just start crying like a baby. And I'm not doing that in front of him. Then there was an exhilaration of happiness surging through me. I didn't know what it was until it was gone. A kiss.

"You thought I'd leave without a stolen kiss?" He asked. The cameras could've caught everything by now!

"Go. Now." I pointed to the fences, and he shrugged and jumped over them. There was a glint in his eyes and a smirk on his face before he ran off. His way of saying good bye. I sharply inhaled. Maybe I will see him again. And maybe I'll tell him that I know that he has my picture under his pillow.

**

* * *

**

Duncan's POV

"Duncan!" Gwen yelled at me. Oh…fuck. "Where the hell were you?! You're lucky Chef is still serving his slop!"

"Chill. I'm fine." I wasn't about to tell her I ran off to see Princess, or even that she was on the lot at all. The others (except for Julie) thought that she had been carted back to Playa des Losers, back to the campers that didn't make the second season. They were so wrong.

"CHILL?! CHILL?! HOW THE FUCK CAN I CHILL?! I WAS WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU, AS A TEAMMATE AND A FRIEND!" What's up with her?

"Look, I'm fine, I'm here, and to make you feel better, I'll get back in the bed and pretend this never happened." I moved the pillows out of the way and got back on the bed. "Happy?"

"Yes. Just…don't scare me like that. I don't want to know what would happen if Chef found out you escaped—and under my watch too!" She sat back down on the chair and watched over Trent. Clearly, she was worried for herself and for me. Well, at least I got what I wanted: to see Princess again. I'm definitely going back to see her sometime soon.

**

* * *

**

My POV

"He did WHAT?!" I yelled. I was back in the trailer with Tawny and Blaire, and I was pacing. I can't believe Duncan went to see Courtney! Romantic, but still!

"Yeah." Tawny confirmed.

"So does that mean I can go in to see her too?"

"I suppose so…" Blaire scratched her head.

"So he really found out where you guys were?"

"I knew those fences were a poor disguise." Tawny said.

"And they were small too." Blaire added.

"Of course he found out! He looks everywhere!"

"Yeah, but that's why we have the cameras. They saw him, and hopefully, Chase wiped out the footage of him before Chris or Chef found out." Tawny replied. I relaxed.

"Okay. As long as he's not caught, we're fine. Is he planning on seeing her again anytime soon?"

"Not implied, but we're pretty sure he's going to go back." Blaire looked off to her right.

"So I can sneak in now?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes and no. We'll leave these break days to Duncan. You can get the next ones." Tawny replied with pep in her voice.

"However, you cannot let on to anyone that you're making these visits, not even Duncan. We don't want to know what will happen if he finds out you're making visits too." Blaire balanced out the pep with her dreary seriousness.

"Fine. I guess I'll just wait and think about everything." I didn't like their decision, but fine. They usually know best anyways.

**

* * *

**

Courtney's POV

Nighttime. Finally, I can read my book to cap off my eventful day. Finding Duncan in my room, having to sneak him back out to the lot…what I need is some rest. Just some nice…a rattling. My door.

"Wh-who's there?" I closed my book and raised it in defense. The door opened just as I was about to open it, and then…

"A book? Trying to scare away Chris? By the way, nice gown." He smirked, and I realized I was only in a mid-thigh length silk royal purple gown.

"Don't get any ideas. Now leave."

"If I didn't know any better, you want me here." I did—oh no. He's now in my cabin and I can't force him out.

"Fine. You can stay, but you're sleeping on the floor." I threw him a pillow.

"What, no blanket?"

"No blanket." I cheerily replied.

"Well, that's too bad. You know what that means, don't you?" I heard a creaking of springs. I turned to see him relaxed on my bed, shoes already kicked off and shirt and pants already off. I could feel a blush creeping up my face.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. I'd rather—"

"Now come on, we've slept together three times."

"One where I was forced, another when I was too tired, and last night when you came in here yourself!"

"So why not actually let me?" The battle with my conscious was beginning. I really wanted him to stay, I wanted him to leave, I wanted to hug him, and I wanted to slap him. I was getting tired from the battle, and so I made a decision. A hasty decision, but a decision.

"Fine. Keep your hands to yourself this time." I climbed into the bed.

"I don't make any promises." He dryly chuckled. I turned off the lamp and as I settled back down, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"This is too much drama for one week."

"Why do you think they called this **Total Drama Action** if it wasn't going to be drama packed?" He whispered.

"Ugh, shut up and go to sleep. And let go of me. I said to keep your hands to yourself." I tried to turn away from him, but I couldn't. He was sound asleep. _Might as well enjoy it while it lasts. He'll have to go back tomorrow anyways. Then he'll be back in the trailer, resting for the next…challenge…_

**

* * *

**

Third Person POV

No one even knew Duncan was gone—except for Chase, but he took extra care to wipe the cameras' memory of him sneaking about again. Gwen kept watch over Trent yet again, and Duncan had been released right before Chef had left. The guys in the trailer still thought Duncan was in the medical tent. Julie was sleeping dreamlessly, but Duncan…he heard Courtney talk in her sleep all night. And she always tends to reveal something in her sleep.

"Duncan…so…mmmmm…" She creased her eyebrows. "Great…cute…picture…" She was muttering incoherently about the picture of her under his pillow. What she was trying to say was, _Duncan's so great, and it's so cute how he has a picture of me under his pillow._ She was saving that insult for a later date, but she already somewhat said it out loud. Duncan didn't catch on, and he thought she was thinking about their group photo from two months ago and how he looked cute. Well, that wasn't the greatest way to describe him (and he'd normally break a few heads for that comment), but this was Courtney. He couldn't hurt her. At first, he mentally cursed himself for thinking such thoughts, but brought her closer to him, and she rubbed her head against his chest.

In the morning, the couple got into their usual arguments, Courtney mouthing off about how Duncan didn't follow her instructions, and he laxly blew the comments off like they were leaves in the wind. She forced him to leave, and he promised he'd be back soon. After a good bye kiss—scratch that, good bye make-out session—he left. Chase saw Duncan leave and proceeded to do another scrambling. Chris would have his head for it, but it was okay, as long as it was against Chris. Duncan was able to cleverly lie to the other guys about being released that morning instead of last night, but Gwen saw through his trick, but decided to not investigate. Trent had been released that morning with a clean bill of health, so she was too happy to prod and search for the truth behind the lie.

"Still a few bruises, but you're free to go." Chef waved off Gwen and Trent. Duncan was too pleased with himself to insult Trent, so the day went by smoothly, for once. Julie was nowhere to be found for the rest of the day after she woke up; she was playing Mario Kart on a borrowed DS (from Chase) with Blaire and Tawny in the make-up trailer, taking great care to hide each time someone came in to confess anything, which wasn't often, but it still happened.

"You remember the challenge, right?" Blaire asked Julie. It was now 8 PM, and all three of them had just finished dinner.

"Surfing challenge in cold studio must wear swimwear, sand castle building contest in Camp Wawanakwa, bring swimsuit wrap and change of clothes, tiebreaker is dance contest, wear clothes, and I'm not forgetting anything, am I?"

"Down to a T Julie!" Tawny exclaimed. "Hey, that rhymed!" Tawny laughed.

"Okay, just go Julie. You'll want to rest up for tomorrow." Blaire attempted to shoo Julie out of the trailer.

"You got it!" Julie left. At 9 PM, all three girls turned in for the night. None of the staff (including Courtney) would be able to go to Wawanakwa, except for the camera crew and Chef. However, Blaire and Tawny left out that little detail, but they assumed that Julie knew that already. They went to sleep peacefully, as did Julie.

* * *

Me: Oh, hello there, fellow fanfiction writer/reader! I'm busy making my next chapter using some wonderful ingredients! NIKKI! DO WE HAVE THAT HALF-CUP OF ROMANCE AT THE READY?!

Nikki: Got it! *lifts heavy cup of pink goo*

Me: Do we have five cups of action, one cup of suspense, and tablespoon of drama too?! I don't use a lot of drama; it packs a huge punch!

Nikki: SO DOES THE DAMN ACTION! IT WAS ABOUT FIVE SECONDS AWAY FROM TURNING ME INTO LUNCH! *Nikki is holding down a small green monster*

Julie: Are you sure this is safe?

Courtney: You're dealing with volatile emotions and ingredients. Who knows what will happen if you die!

Blaire: At least the suspense is calm. *looks at grey mist*

Tawny: THE...DRAMA...IS...REALLY...GETTING...THE...BETTER...OF...ME! *Tawny is being thrown into the air by a red vine*

Me: CHASE! IS THAT METAL BOWL READY?!

Chase: YEAH! LET 'EM RIP!

Me: GET THOSE INGREDIENTS INTO THE BOWL! *sees all four ingredients disappear into the bowl* SEAL IT! *plastic cover is put over the lid of the bowl* Now according to these instructions, I have to let them chill overnight and then I have to take them out, stir them, and then pour them into a pan to bake them at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour. Once done, let pan cool for 45 minutes before serving. Well, when I follow these instructions, the next chapter will be done and I can put it up here! So in the meantime, review please! And keep guessing those dreams please!


	21. Surfing Castle Whatoosie Twist

**A/N: **I'm pleased with this chapter, and I loved the episode. Just loved it. Anyway, there's actually a reference to the movie "Clueless". See if you can find that one! Also, I made a mention about "[her] time of the month". If you guess what I'm talking about, send me your guess in a PM! But if you can't PM, a review will do. I also used a 1940s jazz slang term; see if you can find it! I hope you like Chris's alarm clock! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

* * *

**Chris's POV**

"Dude, time to wake up and announce for the show! Dude, time to wake up and announce for the show! Dude—" I slammed my digital alarm clock. My alarm gets annoying, but then again, it does help me wake up. I got up and looked at the time. 8 AM. Time to get ready. I took my sweet time in getting ready and having my hair look absolutely perfect. Whoever said looks got you far was way ahead of their time. At 8:30 AM, I left to the Craft Services tent to get my breakfast. After that, I reported to the street of studios. Time to shoot the intro for this show. I always have a non-fat vanilla soy latte before I go on, but my soy latte wasn't here yet! I put on my grin, totally prepared and ready for what I had written, regardless of the fact that I still didn't have my pick-me-up. I waited a few seconds, and then I heard the camera guy yell action. My cue to start.

"Last time on Total Drama Action, he was a boy. She was a girl." I gestured to either side of myself. Editing would put in Gwen and Trent's pictures later. "And last week on Total Drama Action, a shocking team redistribution pitted them against one another. Our heroine made a fundamental romantic comedy error: picking Duncan first and leaving her boyfriend Trent feeling kinda…ouchie. Meanwhile, two men made an illegal alliance, and Duncan's mad thespian skills trumped Izzy's well…madness. It was all too much for Chef's tender heart, and Izzy—" Then I remembered her other name. "Uh…Kaleidoscope—was clearly a bit too nutso, even for this show." Time to go into the next part of the overview. "Will Duncan break up Gwen and Trent's barely there relationship? Will the new locks keep Owen out of the Craft truck?" Owen had broken into our food source! We had to get new locks! "Will my non-fat vanilla soy latte EVER get here?" I was now starting to lose my cool, and on camera too. I quickly hid my anger. Don't want to look bad once this gets on the air.

"CUT!" The camera guy (what was his name again?) yelled. "Get the guy his non-fat vanilla soy latte! He's getting angry!" Finally, someone understands me! Chase was in the surveillance room, and Tawny wasn't going to approach me anytime soon, so I saw Blaire come running with my latte.

"Yeah, here's your latte." She handed it to me and walked away. "By the way, Chase told me there were a few contestants exploring and coming this way. You better move to the trailers."

"Thanks Blaire!" I yelled after her. "You heard her! Let's move!" In a half hour, we were in front of the trailers.

"AND…ACTION!" I was cued back in, and now I was content and non-fat vanilla soy latte filled.

"All the answers—uh, answer—" Crap, I just had my non-fat vanilla soy latte. That's one question answered. I creased my eyebrows, but relaxed again. "Right now, in another tear-jerking episode of TOTAL…DRAMA…ACTION!" I grinned for a few more moments, and then the camera guy yelled cut. I sighed. "Finally, it's over!" But then I grinned. "Time to tell the victims the next challenge!" I walked off in the direction of the fake Craft Services tent.

* * *

**My POV**

I ate breakfast with Tawny at 8:30 AM. After that, I left to the fake Craft Services tent. This place had turned into more of a hangout spot for me since I always ate before I got there. I sat down across from Gwen and next to Duncan, and I offered Gwen a smile. She didn't see it. Chef was mixing up something in a pot, and Heather was just getting in line for whatever was in there. When I saw what it was, it almost made me puke. Brown slop.

"Now I know how starlets stay thin." She looked at her slop.

"Wish Chef'd let me in the kitchen. I got me some mad culinary skills." Harold said.

"Do you mind? I was talking to my slop." Heather walked away from Harold. I turned my head, following Heather, only to focus my attention on Lindsay and Beth.

"Justin, look! I brought you bacon!" Lindsay offered a plate full of bacon.

"I brought you Facon. Tofu's good for your heart." Beth offered a plate of…Facon. Apparently, it's tofu bacon.

"Pig's good for his hair!" Lindsay yelled.

"HOLY CRAP I LOVE HIS HAIR!" Beth jumped and grabbed Justin's head (how is that even possible?!).

"Ladies, please." He removed Beth off his head with no trouble at all. "I accept both your offerings. Join me for breakfast?" He asked. The two girls girlishly laughed—well, Beth snorted—and Justin stopped eating. "Aren't you eating?"

"When you can gorge your soul on Essence de Beau Hunk, who needs food?" Lindsay stared at him. He looked at Beth and winked at her. She gasped and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"If only making friends with a guy as gorgeous as Justin was as easy as making these bracelets." Beth pulled on a yellow bracelet, and it split in tiny beads, a bunch of which hit Tawny and Blaire, but one got stuck in Beth's throat. Beth choked and fell to the floor. Blaire immediately performed the Heimlich Manuver on Beth and saved her from choking.

* * *

Across from those two lay Trent, who was sprinkling salt on his scrambled eggs…then the salt spilled all over his eggs.

* * *

**Duncan's POV**

I burst into laughter after that for two good reasons: one, I got Trent back good, and two, I never felt so happy about pranking someone for a while, at least, not since Harold back on TDI. Ah, the guy deserves it for glaring at me! But I can't believe it actually worked!

"Ah, sorry about the morning assalt!" I just had to use that pun. Lame, but hey, I didn't care! Then I felt a sharp pain to the back of my head.

"Third grade called. You're due back in class." Gwen nonchalantly insulted me.

"Real mature. Don't you know its bad luck to spill salt?" Trent threw some salt over his shoulder, and it landed in Heather's face. Ah, priceless! Julie gasped.

"Duncan! You indirectly hurt Heather!"

"Nothing a little pepper won't fix." Trent said while reaching for the pepper.

"TRENT, NO!" Julie stood up and yelled. Too late. The pepper I also unscrewed went right into his eggs too! He gasped and threw it over his shoulder—into Heather's face! She started sneezing like crazy and ran out of the tent! I walked up to him, laughing all the way. Julie ran up to him, trying to call Heather back.

"Heather! Are you okay?!" She looked down, and then looked at me. She was pissed! "WHAT THE FUCK DUNCAN?!" I got a slap across the face. I propped myself against the table.

"You still gonna finish those eggs bro?" And just to piss him off, I took a piece and ate it. It tasted awful, but whatever it took to anger him.

"Are you nuts?! Now I only have eight pieces left!" He had nine pieces?

"Am I nuts? Dude, you're officially capital W weird." I made a W with my fingers to rub it in his face.

"Which is good, because I happen to really like weird." Gwen glared at me while she comforted Trent. She took a piece of his eggs and ate it. "There. Now you've got seven pieces, which is an odd number again. Isn't that kind of better?"

"Abso-Gwen-ly." Trent responded. WHOA! Abso-Gwen-ly? What is UP with him? Then a whistle.

* * *

**My POV**

"Hang on to your coconuts players; we're going back to the beach!" Chris cried with joy. He had on some black shades and was carrying a surfboard. Right, the challenge. Better get my head back in the game. Owen cheered in response. "Ever seen one of those 1950s surfer movies where the kids get up to neat-o fun before the big bonfire twist-a-thon, and the bully kicks the sand castle in the nerdy guy's face?" I knew the one alright.

"Right on surfer dude!" I gave a hang ten sign.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I'm from California, which means I'm a Cali girl. That means I'm well-versed in Valley Speak and Surfer Speak. Oh my God, I'm totally buggin'!" Julie imitated in a Valley Girl accent. "And there's also, WICKED WIPEOUT DUDE!!!" She almost sounded like Geoff. Both Tawny and Blaire were amazed.

* * *

Judging by everyone else's reaction, they didn't know the movie genre.

"Uh, no grandpa, we haven't." Duncan responded for the other campers.

"Well, get ready to recreate one, junior! Two challenges, followed by a tiebreaker if necessary. So, grab your swimsuits!" Chris walked out of the tent, and I followed him, along with the other contestants.

The girls were changing into their swimsuits in the trailer. I put on my green floral bikini once again, Gwen her black bikini, Heather her burgundy colored bikini, Beth her weird looking swimsuit, Lindsay her red bikini (along with tanning lotion, she thought we were actually going to the beach), and Leshawna her blue embroidered one piece. This is gonna be fun, and I've got the upper edge this time around. We all walked out of the trailer, and we were standing with our teams.

"Follow me cool cats!" Chris gestured for us to follow him to a shooting stage; one I knew all too well, except it was much colder. Not quite what I was expecting, but I can deal. And I dealt with it just fine.

"When did you guys move the beach to Antarctica?" Lindsay asked while squeezing out some tanning lotion.

"As some of you can see, we're not really at the beach; we're actually in the shooting studio." This time, Chris was wearing a white hooded parka and there was a green screen in front of a pool of water and a surfboard above that pool of water.

"And the AC's cranked because?" Duncan asked, shivering.

"All the cameras and lights get so hot; they can melt Chef's heart." Chef was now grinning and waving to us. Holy crap he's right. "And the network told my agent sweaty isn't a good look for me."

"Then wet probably isn't going to be a good look for you either, because that's what you're going to be if you don't HURRY UP WITH THE CHALLENGE ALREADY!"

"Fine, fine, don't harsh my mellow. Your first challenge: hang ten this deck into the big blue without swallowing tail in the soup." Right then.

"So you mean whoever stays on the board the longest wins, right?" I asked him. That was the problem with surfer speak: it said more than was necessary to explain a simple request.

"Exactamundo groovy cats! So, who's going first?" Chris asked. Everyone was silent. It was always like this. "The team that wins gets a half-hour head start on the next challenge. And given tonight's reward, you should be fighting harder than Justin's abs over who gets first shot." And still no one went up. I was about to walk up to him when Harold suddenly flung himself to Chris, an ice shard wedged between Harold's butt cheeks. "We have a volunteer!" Harold looked angry, then shrugged and got on the surfboard.

"MAD SURFING SKILLS…ACTIVATE!" Did he even have mad surfing skills?

"And please welcome the return of some season one fan favorites, the sharks!" A shark suddenly leaped out and attempted to eat Harold.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I'm very protective of my buttocks. They provide me with the low center of gravity that is the key to my many mad skills. You could say they're my hugest **ass**et. Check it! I can juggle my Magic Steve's Magical Trading Cards!" Harold proceeded to push a pack of cards from one back pocket to the next--using his butt cheeks. Both girls were disgusted and forced him out the door.

* * *

He jumped up to a metal rafter and held on for dear life.

"My booty and I are out!" Harold said from up above the pool.

"Your booty has an opinion?" Leshawna asked.

"That's a big job for a saggy, sad little thing." Heather commented.

"I'll have you know this is a selfless act! My lady fans couldn't handle the loss of this perfect behind!" Harold responded with the sharks still biting at him.

"And by lady fans, he means his mother!" Heather insulted. Ah, that was a good one! I snickered on the inside.

"Hey sharks look! Bacon and Facon!" Harold pointed to Owen, who had a plate of the stuff with him.

"Breakfast should last all day, no?" I face palmed myself as I saw the sharks beg for it like seals. Harold chose this as the time to make his escape, but he didn't land on his feet.

"Ooooo, way to stick the dismount bro!" Chris commented. I wasn't laughing, but Heather, Gwen, and Duncan were. Gwen and Duncan even fist pounded each other! Oh boy, someone's not going to like that…I trained my eyes on Trent.

"Awww…" Trent groaned.

"Friendship bracelet?" Beth offered a purple bracelet to Trent.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!" Trent chanted while he tapped the bracelet on his head. I quirked an eyebrow. What was with him and nine? "Ah, much better." Trent slouched over. Beth backed away from him.

"And Lindsay! You're up next!" Chris yelled. She went up to the board, and it started moving. She was actually doing fine, until the board started rocking faster and a huge fan was turned on. She was soon flung off the board and hit the green screen. Chris called DJ up, and one of the sharks ate his shorts. DJ gasped and ran off the set with Chef calling after him. However, I didn't quite catch what Chef yelled to him, because Owen was going up. He broke the surfboard and fell into the water a few seconds later. When he did that, he displaced all of the water and the two sharks. I was drenched! And Owen walked out of the tub through a door.

"Oh crap! Sorry shark dudes, really, I'm so sorry!" Owen apologized, holding the broken surfboard. Chris blew his whistle and called for a break—for the sharks and to refill the pool. However, we got no break.

"Julie! Time to surf the pipe!" Chris called to me. I grinned.

"Totally tubular hepcat! You'll totally see what I can do with a board and some of my gnarly skills." I gave two thumbs up as I got on the board. "Hit me with what you got surfer dude!" I egged him on. Then I saw him load up seagulls on a Gatling style gun. Oh…crap. Wait, he said we have to stay on the board. He never said how…this is gonna be fun.

"I love this game!" He yelled. He started shooting seagulls at me. I ducked down and laced my arms around the board just in case it started to move. Then the shooting stopped.

"That the best you got Grandpa Chris?!" I looked at him from where I was still hanging onto the board.

"That's not allowed!"

"Oh yes it is! You said that we have to stay on the board. You never said HOW we should stay on the board." I beat him at his own game.

"Oh, we're not done yet!" Chris ran to his control board and pushed a button as hard as was physically possible. The board started swaying back and forth like crazy, but I held on steadfastly. "Damnit! Cue the fan Chef!" There was a huge gust of wind blowing over me. I screamed in shock.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING THE BEST OF ME THIS TIME OLD MAN! COWABUNGA!!!!" I yelled above the fan and the whirring of the hydraulics of the board.

"I hate this game! Fine, you win!" The fan stopped and the board stopped rocking. I got up and walked back down the ladder, where I got a high five from Gwen. After all, I did get our team the first point. After a few more minutes, the sharks were back in the water, and Justin was up for the other team. Once he got on the board, he flipped his hair. The sharks were immediately in a trance. "So perfect. Almost makes me believe in the inherent goodness of the human race…almost." Chris loaded up more seagulls and shot them at Justin.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I wanted to tell him that he looked like a surfing GOD! Instead, I said YOUR FACE! WATCH YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE!" Tawny collapsed on the floor laughing, and Beth ran out of the trailer crying. This was later edited so that it fell in line with what Beth actually said.

* * *

"JUSTIN! YOUR FACE! WATCH YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACE!" Beth yelled. It was too late. The seagulls hit Justin, and he fell into the water. The sharks dove in the water to save him, brought him out, and one of the sharks administered CPR on him. How did sharks even do that?! Justin was revived, and the shark hugged Justin while pushing Beth and Lindsay away.

"Love's a beautiful thing." Chris grinned.

"More beautiful than that thing you call a face." I jeered.

"THAT'S IT! GWEN, YOU'RE UP!" Chris yelled. Gwen was shot down by the seagulls. Trent managed to stay on. Heather was shot down, as was Beth. Then it was Duncan's turn. "Finally, we have Duncan! Try not to get your piercings wet." Chris chuckled. He started shooting seagulls at Duncan, who avoided them easily. Then Chris started to throw things at Duncan. First, it was a director's chair, then a light.

"Aw, my head!" Lindsay walked up to Chris. Bad choice.

"CHRIS, NO!" I yelled at him. "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" But Lindsay was chucked in Duncan's direction.

"You gotta be kidding me." He managed to dodge Lindsay, but she hit the green screen—again.

"And with that, Duncan secures victory for the Screaming Gaffers!"

"Gnarly." Duncan replied before meeting up with us. We were cheering. When I focused back down to Earth, Gwen and Duncan were hugging and Trent's reaction—not cool.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"HOLY CRAP! DID YOU SEE THAT?! Duncan avoided all of those seagulls, a chair, a light, and Lindsay!" Julie laughed. "Wait, wouldn't Chris get sued for using Lindsay as a weapon?" She shrugged. "Whatever. I still think my moves were pretty sweet. Why stand on the board when you can just grab onto it for dear life and wait until it stops moving? Much less energy's wasted that way."

**

* * *

**

Trent's POV

"Man, Gwen's team is unstoppable!" Owen exclaimed. Duncan…hugging…Gwen…?

"Try unstable. A ticking time bomb of betrayal. We have to stop them." I resolved.

"With what?! A freight train? TOOT TOOT!" Owen! No! I'm losing my cool! Must…get… out friendship…bracelet for…good luck!

"Five, six, seven, eight, nine." I tapped it against my head. My lucky number nine. It makes me feel so peaceful, and it's the number of letters in Gwen and my names. Gwen…

"Ex-squeeze me?" Owen asked. No! He can't defy me!

"Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!" I yelled to drown out Owen's bad vibes.

"Uh, your secret weapon's being weird?" Owen asked again. Gwen loves weird. Gwen…

"If being weird brings us good luck, then yeah, I'm weird! Besides, Gwen likes weird." I cupped my head in my hands and looked at her. So beautiful…

Chris said to the camera, "If you at home like weird, then you'll love what's coming up next!"

"I'm telling you, sometimes being weird is cool." I told Chris. He gets so annoying sometimes.

"Delusional. So sad." Chris shook his head. "So report to the front of the lot everyone!" Chris chuckled. "The bus is going to be there soon."

* * *

**My POV**

"Not in our swimsuits. I'm getting changed." Heather walked out of the lot. The others followed suit. I went back to the trailer to get a swim wrap and a change of clothes. I pulled out of my duffle bag a green floral wrap and tied it securely around my waist. I also grabbed a change of clothes and packed them in my backpack, which I slung over my shoulder.

"Girl, are you crazy? We're probably going to go back in that studio, where we'll freeze our asses off again!" All of the other girls were now changed back into their regular clothes.

"It's okay. I'll be fine. Besides, I think we're actually going to the beach this time!" I was telling the truth, but they didn't believe me. They never did. We reported to the front of the lot, and I was the only one in my swimsuit.

"Welcome back to Total Drama Action, where against all advised to the contrary, the players have changed OUT of their bathing suits." Chris greeted to the cameras. "Hope you like swimming in your jeans."

"Save one." Justin commented.

"Right, Julie. At least she has faith in me, unlike all of you." Chris pointed at us. I was smiling on the inside.

"Right, because we're totally going to the beach this time. The bus is just late." Heather said sarcastically. Then a honking. I turned around, only to see a yellow school bus waiting for us.

"You were saying?" Chris asked. I was so right!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Chris actually told us the truth for once?! What's next, being treated with actual respect?!" Owen asked incredulously. Blaire was amazed that Owen was actually making sense, unlike Tawny. Tawny knew that Owen was capable of making sense.

* * *

"So uh…Chris…where are we headed to?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"Oh, you'll see." Chris grinned. "Gaffers on the bus first since they won the last challenge!" I climbed into the bus and claimed a front seat. Once everyone was seated, the bus lurched and we were on our way to Wawanakwa. Strangely enough, we got there by bus exclusively. Was I wrong about the island being an island? "Hey groovy cats, we're here!" The bus lurched to a stop and we all got out. "Now follow me CAMPERS! You'll see what this place is soon enough." A half hour later, we were on a beach next to two sandboxes. "Yes campers, we're actually back at your old stomping grounds, TOTAL…DRAMA…ISLAND! If you need to take a moment and reminisce about the great times you had here—" Chris was cut off by all of us breaking into laughter. No way did I miss this place! "Fine, we'll skip the good memories montage. Screaming Gaffers, you've got a 30 minute head start on…the sand castle building contest, to be judged by our resident King O' the Dunes!" Chef put on a hat in the shape of a sand castle tower. "Make like prop masters guys, and give me something awesome! I really don't want the tiebreaker to have to go down. I don't think Legal's quite approved it yet." A large boulder fell on top of a mannequin dummy, with three bamboo sticks falling on top of the boulder, and to top it all off, a Dukes of Hazard car crashed into the pile.

Harold started ordering us around to get buckets, so I quietly slipped away. I wasn't in the mood to help him. I still didn't quite like him, but he was tolerable. I spent my time walking in the forest. I reached a clearing, and then I saw them. Duncan and Gwen dismantling the bus's engine.

"There! If we're stuck at the beach, at least we can stay in the cabins. I never thought I'd miss them!" Gwen told Duncan. They don't know I'm here, do they? Phew!

"I've always been more of a dismantler than a builder anyway." Duncan was carrying a bucket.

"No, you just love to stir up the—" A loud honking noise. Crap, I had to cover my ears it was so loud. "STUFF! I WAS GOING TO SAY STUFF!" Did they think it was a censor noise?

"We should disconnect the horn too." The cover slammed. I quickly reappeared from behind the bus. "You." Duncan hissed out.

"Where have you two been?! We need your help on the sand castle! Everyone thinks you went off to get…" I looked at the bucket Duncan was holding. Eh, it'll do for a good excuse.  
"Buckets! Yeah!" I smiled. They both eyed me weirdly.

"Whatever. It's probably time to head back anyway." Duncan shrugged and started walking. Phew, my ass has been saved once again.

* * *

**Trent's POV**

Where's Gwen? And come to think of it, where's Duncan? Oh my God…no, no, no, no, NO! I CAN'T WATCH THE OTHER TEAM DO THIS ANY LONGER!

"Three, two," Chris started to count down. Chef blew a bugle, and terribly too. "Thank you Chef. Screaming Gaffers, your 30 minute lead is over! So, Trent, dude, get castling."

"WATER! WATER! WE NEED WATER!" Owen ran around screaming.

"I'll hit the mountain stream!" Lindsay yelled.

"Or we could use the lake." Beth reminded Lindsay. Justin was already packing sand, and Owen was still screaming. Too…many…noises!!!!

"QUIET!!! We need a plan, and I've got one." I grinned. Nine of everything, for Gwen!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Little Trent mans up! Wow, even I had goosebumps! And there wasn't a mirror for miles." Justin looked at himself in his mirror. Tawny sprayed some hairspray in his eyes, forcing him to run away.

"It's that time of the month, isn't it?" Blaire asked.

"Yup!" Tawny replied.

* * *

"All right, we're going to make a castle, nine of everything. Nine towers, nine doors, nine room, et cetera. Let's go!" I commanded my team.

* * *

**My POV**

"The Taj Maharold! It's perfect!" I was standing with the rest of my teammates looking over Harold's sand castle creation. It was absolutely gorgeous. We disbanded soon after that, but Harold, Leshawna, DJ, and Heather stayed with the sand castle. I decided to swim in the lake a little bit. I was finally able to relax and unwind.

* * *

**Justin's POV**

"Dude, stop at three, stop at five, just-just stop!" I yelled to Trent. This guy is going nuts!

"It can't support so much weight!" Owen added. I looked at the sand castle. It was a shoddy thing, but then again, there were nine towers, nine openings, nine moats around it, and nine shells with the Killer Grip symbol on it. Owen's right: it can't support that much weight. Trent chuckled like a mad person.

"Just one more…flag." The sand castle collapsed entirely.

"Ah…it's over." I looked down.

"What if I tie these bracelets around the tower to keep them up?" Beth asked.

"It's a sand castle building contest Beth!" I reminded her. God, she's so stupid and shallow.

"No, it's a prop sand castle building contest. Anything goes!" I gasped. Oh my God, Beth found a loophole! This is great!

"Oh, I have some anything!" Lindsay pointed to her bag. Did she think we'd be on the beach or something?

"We can make it even better!" Beth exclaimed. Lindsay started throwing out some magazines. "Everybody, tear up these magazines!" All of the shredded bits were put into a bucket, and Beth started to spray something into it. "I'll mix the pieces with hairspray, and _**voilà**_! Papier-mâché!"

"Crafty!" I commented. She blushed. It's so great to be admired.

"Remember, nine of everything!" Trent reminded them. Oh my God, not this nine obsession!

* * *

**My POV**

I got out of the water after a long swim and put on my wrap. I walked to Gwen and Duncan, who had just returned from a walk.

"I dub thee: Casa Gwen!" Trent announced so loudly that I could hear him once I got to Gwen and Duncan.

"Now he's naming BUILDINGS after me?! I think Trent might be obsessed!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Nine moats, nine flags, nine wicked jam rooms!" Trent let out a cackle fit for any cuckoo person.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Is it me, or has Trent completely gone off his rocker?" Julie asked the camera.

"He's gone completely off his rocker!" Tawny yelled off camera.

* * *

"At least his number nine obsession is even worse than the me one!"

"Four letters in your name, five in Trent's, put 'em together and you get—" Gwen cut off Duncan's explanation, but I saw it all too well. Trent has officially gone insane!

"Nine! He can't be doing everything nine times just for me!"

"Dude always does everything nine times. I reckon it started when he figured out you might like him." Harold commented.

"No way. Trent never did anything nine times in season one." I looked at Trent briefly and saw him wave to Gwen—nine times. Gwen waved back nervously.

"Could say, uh, you've sent him to Cloud Nine." Duncan snickered, which solicited a punch to his shoulder, courtesy of Gwen.

"I don't think so…wait a minute. Didn't this all start after you and Trent got in that fight three days ago?" I looked at both Gwen and Duncan.

"Oh my God! You're right! When Trent woke up and got breakfast yesterday, he got nine pieces of eggs! Same thing happened today, I just noticed that!" Gwen put her hands to the side of her head.

"Do you think he suffered brain damage? Duncan, you didn't hurt his head, did you?"

"When I pulled him down to the ground, maybe he hit his head on the ground hard. I don't know." He responded.

"This is bad. You didn't give him a concussion, otherwise Chef would know. Maybe it's just temporary. But I think we can heal him."

"How Cali girl? By using plants or something?"

"No…do you remember why Trent is even like this in the first place?"

"Um…because Duncan hurt Trent's head?" Gwen asked.

"No, it's because he's jealous. I thought you would've seen the signs by now. Don't you remember what Trent said three days ago? He said that he was upset that Duncan sat next to you. Duncan, you yourself admitted that you sat next to Gwen to make Trent angry because he was glaring at you, and probably for good reason."

"So you're saying we shouldn't hang out anymore?" Duncan glared at me.

"No, not at all. Keep hanging out for all I care, but Gwen, you need to give Trent moral support that you're not "cheating", at least in Trent's mind, on him. Look at him. He's becoming crazier than Izzy right now, and Izzy's level of crazy is pretty crazy." I reminded myself of the good times I had with Izzy, but I shook my head to clear my flashbacks.

"So you're saying that due to some brain damage from a fight and his own personal feelings, my boyfriend is going out of his mind?" Gwen asked me for clarification.

"Exactly. And we're going to get him out of it." We walked over to our sand castle, which now had seagulls all over it! Leshawna, Heather, Harold, and DJ were trying to get them off, and they succeeded—at a terrible price. Our sand castle was destroyed! Oh well, the dance-off contest is in the bag. We have Leshawna and Harold.

"We have a winner! Beth and the Killer Grips' clever prop, Casa dos Papier-mâché!" Chris announced. Oh well, I didn't even help on our castle that much anyways. "Which means we need a new tiebreaker! And I was hoping for the evening off! Instead, gather ye some wood campers, for a fire of the bon variety." A bonfire. I know what I can do to get out of it. I left to not find wood, but the cabins, that way, I can change back into my regular clothes. I can always put on my bikini and my wrap later.

* * *

**Gwen's POV**

Is Julie right? Did Trent really suffer brain damage? Or is he just going nuts? I love him so much, and I don't want him to go insane just because I consider Duncan a good friend! While I was gathering some sticks on the ground, I saw Trent and Owen walk to me.

"Gwen! Hey, I-I feel like it's been ages since we had any, uh, quality time together." At least that was somewhat true. He probably doesn't remember how I stayed by his side for two nights and a day. But Owen was making kissing noises.

"Uh…" I stammered. Trent noticed Owen.

"Check." Owen sped off.

"I kinda wanted to talk to you about…" Then I noticed Owen hiding behind a tree. "Owen! I can see you!"

"Do you mind speaking up? I don't want to miss all the juicy bits." Ugh! I threw my sticks at him to shut him up! I like Owen, but he gets SO annoying sometimes! Then I noticed how many sticks Trent was holding.

"Are you carrying…nine sticks?"

"'Course, it's my lucky number." Trent explained as though it was nothing. Oh my God, this is way too freaky for my tastes! I can't confront him, I just can't!

"Listen Trent, I'd love to stay and chat, but I REALLY GOT TO GO FOCUS ON THE GAME RIGHT NOW!" I ran off, dropping a stick, but I don't care. I can't stand being around Trent, not like this!

* * *

**Owen's POV**

Gwen can be so pushy sometimes, but whatever. I heard everything she said.

"What am I doing wrong?!" Trent yelled. Time to give him some of my advice!

"Getting in her way! Like I said before, the girl likes winning!" Trent's eyes lit up. Ah, my message got through to him!

"You know Owen, sometimes you're really smart." I farted in response.

"Me like beans." Mmmmm…beans.

"Okay Owen, I have a plan! Let's go back to Chris!" Trent started running with his nine sticks, and I followed him, carrying only three.

* * *

**My POV**

Chris clapped his hands, and Tiki torches lit up in response. Ah, the clapper. Not sure how it works with torches, but okay!

"Why did you bother sending us out to get firewood?!" Heather asked indignantly.

"I needed some alone time. Ya think these hands manicure themselves?" Chris showed off his hand to Heather, who recoiled back in response. "Which brings us to the tiebreaking challenge, a Whatoosie-Twist-Mashed Potato-Dorky-Old School dance contest!" Chris even did the ridiculous moves to match.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Julie laughed for a good minute or two. "Did you see those dance moves?! Those were dorky! And so is he!" Julie started laughing again, and Tawny joined in too.

* * *

"Teams, choose your best boogier for battle!"

"Oh, you've got to pick me! My nickname back home: Le-shakin' it!" Leshawna even did a weird dance move to match her equally weird nickname.

"All right." I voiced my opinion. The rest of the team agreed with me.

"Have the teams chosen their boogier?" Chris asked. Leshawna and Trent both went up to each other while Chris started to play a surfing theme from a boom box.

* * *

**Trent's POV**

"Prepare for a world of pain son!" Leshawna jibed. Oh, what she doesn't know is that I'm going to throw this competition for Gwen, but I might as well make it look good for the cameras.

"Bring it." We backed off from each other, and I started dancing, but stopped when I saw Leshawna's moves. They were ridiculous—ridiculously bad!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Yeah, I bet I know Leshawna's real nickname back home: LE-BOMBA!" DJ drew out. Blaire and Tawny gagged when he said Leshawna's other nickname.

"Primaballeri-NO!" Heather exclaimed.

"Two words: Fun-ky! What? I loved it!" Harold exclaimed.

"Wow, those were...interesting." Gwen said.

"Those were bad! SO BAD!" Duncan started laughing. He still didn't like Leshawna all that much.

"Gag me with a spoon that was bad!" Julie said in a Valley Girl accent. "But really, those were not the best dance moves I've seen, but whatever." Julie shrugged.

* * *

But oh well, I'll put up a good fight. I started dancing, and I heard Beth and Lindsay cheering for me. Yes, it's working! I looked over to Gwen, but her eyes widened—and she looked away. Julie looked at me, worry in her eyes. Does she think I'm going crazy? Does Gwen think so too? I looked over to Owen for a cue. He just shrugged.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"The thing is if Gwen wants to win, why is it unethical for me to help her? I'm Trent first and a Killer Grip second." Trent declared. Blaire face palmed herself. Trent noticed this. "Oh, can we erase that? Confession might be good for the soul; it's not so good for the teamwork." Trent left. Tawny grinned.

"We're so showing this on TV."

"But not to the other contestants--except for Courtney." Blaire chided.

"Fine." Tawny grumbled.

* * *

Then I had it. I can do the moonwalk just fine on sand. That's sure to make me lose! I started to do the moonwalk, and I saw a branch in my path. Perfect. Just a little more…I winked to the camera, and then I tripped.

"Dude, get up!" Justin yelled.

"I think I have turned my ankle!" I yelled. I hope no one caught that it was fake.

"DO SOMETHING!" I couldn't tell if Owen was playing along or was actually worried for me. I started wiggling about on my back, and then Chris was above me.

"THAT'S NOT DANCING!"

"It's modern! It's interpretive!" I explained to Chris. Hopefully, he bought my lie.

* * *

**Gwen's POV**

"I interpret it as sucking." Duncan insulted. That's it!

"Shut up Duncan! I ignored Trent and now he's lost his will to go on!"

"You're giving yourself way too much credit. If Trent has that many screws loose, you didn't unscrew anymore of 'em."

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Gwen was standing in front of the camera. "I like Trent. A lot. But I don't want to be responsible for this much mental distress!"

"Then stop hanging out with Duncan!" Tawny yelled.

"Ignore her. It's her time of the month. But then again, she's right. You need to confront Trent about this yourself." Blaire added.

"But I already did." Gwen walked out of the trailer.

"Do you know what she was talking about?" Tawny asked Blaire.

"Not a clue."

* * *

"What do you mean you ignored him?" Julie asked me.

"I wasn't able to confront him. I got so freaked out when I saw that he was carrying nine sticks that I ran!" I responded. I can't lie to her.

"No wonder the guy's lost the will to go on! You turned away from him when he looked at you. Don't lie; I saw it." Julie sighed. "Gwen, if you want him to get better, you have to help him along. At the stage of insanity he's at, there's no way he can put himself back together, not without a little help!" The music was suddenly gone.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Leshawna and the Screaming Gaffers are the winners! And your reward: the greatest beach party ever pitched!" Chris announced. However, I needed an explanation from Trent, so I had him come with me into the woods so we could talk privately.

"I know you really wanted to win." Trent started.

"I guess. You know, you're a really good dancer!" I wasn't lying to him; he really was. Except for when he did the moonwalk. But Trent did the moonwalk for me anyway. "Your ankle seems better." Wow, he threw the competition just so I could win. That's so sweet of him!

"I'm weird like that." Trent smiled.

"You sure are." We were about to lean in for a kiss, and then…

"You guys gonna make out now?" Owen asked. OWEN! I gathered a few sticks along with Trent and threw them at Owen. He was effectively knocked out.

"Now, where were we?" Trent leaned in for a kiss, and it felt so good to kiss him again, and after so long too.

"Trent—"

"I'm sorry. I know you and Duncan are just friends and that he likes Courtney, but I can't help getting jealous all of the time. I guess that fight proved it huh?"

"Don't worry about it. At least you're better."

"I guess I got a little brain damage from that fight. From now on, I won't act all weird around you."

"Aw, and here I was getting used to it." I teased. "Too bad you have to miss out on that party."

"I guess. But what counts is that you're happy." I smiled, and we both walked back to the beach.

* * *

**My POV**

I wasn't really in a party mood. Gwen didn't follow me on my word, and that just sucks. No one ever follows my advice anymore.

"If the losing team could just follow me to the bus!" Chef came up to Chris and whispered something. Chef was covered in oil splotches though. "Which is broken, which means the losers have to stay and watch their rivals gorge on victory—and poi." The other team was sent away. And I felt so guilty for the other team.

"They have to stay? Then why don't they join us? A party's not fun with seven people." I asked.

"I SAID NO! YOUR TEAM IS SUPPOSED TO GET THIS REWARD! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO GO SHARING IT!" Chris yelled at me. Oh, two can play at that game.

"IT'S OUR REWARD! WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT WITH IT!"

"Fine, I'll take a vote. Gaffers!" The music was stopped. "How many of you want the Killer Grips to join you in your party?!" I raised my hand, and so did Gwen, Leshawna, Harold, and DJ. Only Heather and Duncan didn't raise their hands.

"Then that settles that. The Grips get to join us! Let's party!" I yelled.

"Fine! I'll just go get the Grips then." Chris walked away.

* * *

**Justin's POV**

"Thanks for winning us the sand castle building contest, especially since I blew the surfing challenge. You really saved my bacon, or should I say, Facon?" I sucked up to Beth. I never did anything out of the goodness of my heart. "Except, I kinda noticed you gave everyone on the team friendship bracelets, everyone but me. Aren't we friends Beth?" I asked her pleadingly. Well, I faked it, but I'm a great actor.

"'Course! Here, it's kinda wet. My palm's a little sweaty." Beth handed me a red bracelet. I put it on my wrist, but I prevented myself from shuddering at the sweatiness of it.

"Red. Nice."

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Let's just say that I'll do anything to win--anything. Ooo, Beth, I love it. I was thinking Beth, it could be really good for us if we were in an alliance." Justin revealed his sinister plot. Tawny and Blaire were both in their cabins getting ready to turn in for the night. Chris was at the surveillance room watching Justin confess.

"Wow. Dude is as crafty as he is good looking. Maybe we're related." Chris laughed. "He wishes!"

"Uh, no Chris, no I don't." Justin said. The two way microphone symbol was on, and Chris realized this and quickly turned off the screen and the two way microphone so he couldn't see or hear Justin.

"Poor delusional guy could never even swim in my gene pool. More importantly, tune in next time to watch more...me! And a few minutes of Justin, on TOTAL...DRAMA...ACTION!" Chris stood up, the camera only seeing his lower body. "Which one of you geniuses left the two way mike on?!" Before Tawny and Blaire had left the trailer for the night, the two girls "accidentally" left the two way mike on as a prank on Chris.

* * *

"Hey Grips! The Gaffers want you in their party!" Chris came to us.

"I don't think so."

"Are you pulling our leg?" Trent asked.

"No…the Gaffers actually took a vote, and they want you in their party. So go!" Hey, at least it's better than waiting out here in the cold.

"Okay man." I got up and walked with Chris. The rest of the team followed.

* * *

**Chris's POV**

I can't believe Julie outsmarted me again! And to make matters worse, we're stranded here until morning! Now I can't vote anyone off! This sucks! I left to the surveillance tent, where another one of my disposable interns were. What was his name again?

"Hey man, how is everything?" I asked him.

"It's all good. I'll keep a watch over the campers. You go to sleep. You'll need it tomorrow."

"Sweet dude. Catch you in the mornin'!" I left to my trailer to get some much deserved sleep.

* * *

**Courtney's POV**

It's so lonely without anyone here. All day, Chase and I were sitting at the control board playing card games. Even then, Chase eventually moved on to his DS game, and I was only able to watch the screens. Duncan without his shirt on, when he dodged all of those obstacles, even Julie getting Duncan's team the first point. Duncan…even my bed is cold without him here. Maybe I should have stowed away on that bus…

* * *

"_It's now or never Court." Chase told me. "If you want to stay with Duncan, you have to get on the bus and go with them back to Camp Wawanakwa."_

"_But that's breaking the rules! I'm not supposed to leave the lot!"_

"_Courtney, listen to me. You only get one chance to live out your life. You can take that chance right now…or you can wait for who knows how long until Duncan comes back. Your choice." Tawny tried to give me a pep talk, but my mood was faltering fast. I finally made a decision as the bus pulled away._

"_No. I'm not going to do it. I'll just watch the screens from the surveillance room." Tawny looked at me weirdly._

"_We still have a connection to the cameras back in Camp Wawanakwa. We can see what they see if we want to." Chase explained._

"_It's not as fun as being there, you know. I hope you realize that." Tawny told me._

"_Yes, but I'll be fine."I managed a smile. Tawny sighed and walked away._

* * *

After I saw what happened, I now really wish I could be there right now. Not only that, he's stranded on that island! I can't believe he broke the bus, and with Gwen's help too! I heaved a deep sigh once again before going to sleep.

* * *

**My POV**

That party felt like it was never going to end. With the Grips here, we had ten times more fun than we would've had without them. All in all, I had a great time, and so did everyone else. But at around 12:30 AM, we decided to turn in for the night. We were all able to find the cabins and we designated a boys' cabin and a girls' cabin; the Bass cabin for the boys and the Gophers cabin for the girls. No one brought sleepwear (including me), so we just slept in what we were wearing. I drifted off into another sleep, but I had yet another sleepless night.

* * *

Me: This was a pleasure to type up! And I love how I was able to fit a bunch of references in there!

Julie: It's yummy.

Courtney: I love sweet treats!

Tawny: Me too! It tastes like brownies!

Blaire: Strange. It tastes like mooncakes to me.

Me: Yeah, these treats taste like your favorite desert. *take a bite* Mmmmm...Napoleon.

Julie: Yeah, mine tastes like cheesecake!

Courtney: Mine's sugar cookies.

Chase: Wow, it tastes like cinnamon buns. This is awesome.

Nikki: MINE'S TIRAMISU!!! *starts bouncing off the walls*

Me: NIKKI! Sorry, coffee hypes her up. Anyways, don't eat anymore of my chapter and review please!


	22. Sizzling Heat Wave Tears

**A/N: **And for the first time in a very long time, you don't have as much to read! Isn't that great?! Okay, it would've been much more elaborate, but I just found the latest episode, and I must say to the writers: I am shocked. Befuddled. Amazed. Torn. I'm not revealing anything, but if you've already watched it, you may understand how and why I feel this. It...is a tradgedy. And Justin was being his same evil self...again. No, really, I need to get started on typing up the next challenge. Thank God it's short. But all of the additional stuff I'm going to add is going to make the next chapter a doozy.

This dream is particularly sad and long, and no one guessed who it was (though your guesses were more plausible than what I came up with)! So today's dedication is to Natsuki Takaya, author of the manga Fruits Basket. Why, you may ask? Well, this dream is basically my twist on a few chapters out of the manga, fitted to a TDI character and my personal plot. So a mini-disclaimer: **I do not own Fruits Basket. That is owned 100% by Natsuki Takaya. My personal twists and additions are all mine though. MINE!!!!!** Exactamundo. But this is the saddest dream BY FAR, even sadder than the others I have planned. I was crying when I was typing this up, no joke! It was that sad--to me, at least. You might not think so. So let's give a warm welcome and an equally warm hug, this...is...IZZY! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

* * *

Another door? Yeah, this gets old fast. I opened the door, found nothing yet again, and turned around, only to find myself in a house with pale yellow walls and a white leather couch. There was a woman with red hair and wearing grey sweats and a grey jacket pacing about the room, talking on the phone. There was a little girl, around three years old, on the couch who had long shockingly orange hair. She had green eyes too, and she was smiling and laughing happily.

"Let's go to bed little Izzy." The mother picked her up and took her to a separate room down a hallway to be tucked in. The mother reemerged from the hallway in a minute. She still had the phone in her hand. It's Izzy. Crazy Izzy…"Hey dear. Your business trip is almost over right? You still have a cold?!" The mother gasped. "Did you go to the hospital like I told you to do yesterday?! WHAT?!" She suddenly looked around as though she had woken up a beast, then let out a sigh of relief. "No, that's awful! I'll come over there to make sure you go! I don't care if you're busy with that important business deal! I'll come over there now!" Was this woman serious? Was she really going to go? She had her jacket and purse ready and everything, and then…"Tomorrow? Are you positive? No lying? Okay…" She was still worried; I could sense it in her voice. "She's just fine. She's sleeping right now. Wha—? A brother? Are you—we—I—prepared for that responsibility? I mean—oh, right." She sighed. "Well, I'll be waiting. In the meantime, get to sleep so you'll feel better in the morning—and remember to go the doctor! I love you, and I don't know what would happen if I lost you. Well, you can never be so sure. I really don't know what I would've done without you Joel. I, Kathy Lee Robins Gerard would probably be out in the streets. No, don't say that, you know it's true. Oh my God, I've kept you up! You need your sleep! I love you…goodnight." She ended the call and sighed deeply.

The scene melted away, and now I was inside a kitchen with granite floors and granite kitchen table tops. Sunlight was pouring in through the window behind Izzy. She was now sitting in a chair holding a yellow cup and smiling.

"Who wants more orange juice?!" Kathy rang out in a sing-song voice. Then a ringing interrupted what Izzy was about to scream out. "Oh, that must be daddy!"

"Yay daddy!" Izzy cried out with joy and flailed her arms, spilling orange juice out of the cup.

"Oh Izzy! I'll clean that as soon as possible! Stay cute!" Kathy pinched Izzy's cheeks while Izzy kept laughing and ran to get the phone. She then ran back to the kitchen to get a paper towel to clean up the spilled orange juice. "Hello?! Yes?! Yes, this is she." Then a long moment of silence filled the room. Izzy stopped laughing and turned her head to look at Kathy. "Wait one moment. Izzy honey, I'll be in the other room." Kathy poured more orange juice in Izzy's cup. "Don't go spilling it again okay?" Izzy didn't acknowledge her mother's instructions while her mother ran into the living room and sat down on the couch. "He—he—what? Pneu—pneu—pneumonia? Oh…okay. Yes, I'll be there. Yes, I'll be there too. Okay. Goodbye." She ended the call and looked down to her lap. For a second, she looked as though she had just heard the most depressing news in the world, and then she left to the kitchen. Now this scene was melting away, and I was now in a white hallway.

"Miss Gerard, I'm sorry we made you come here. We were originally going to send you his belongings, but then decided that Joel would want you to come and fetch them yourself." I followed behind Kathy, Izzy, and an old man. They stopped in front of an unmarked door. "This is the last office that Joel used." He opened the door slowly, and he started talking again. "Everything has been untouched ever since Joel passed…if you need anything more, please call me, I'm in the other room." He didn't wait for a response, and I rushed into the room behind Kathy before the old man closed the door. I looked back, and he seemed to be looking at me. Before he closed the door, he nodded.

She walked around, and picked up a picture frame. I didn't know what the picture was, but it was heart-wrenching enough to make her shed tears and wildly turn her head every which way in the entire room. She then fell to her knees and dropped the picture. It slid to my feet, and then I saw it: a picture of him and their family, Joel holding Izzy in his arms, Izzy smiling, Kathy laughing, a moment caught in time. They looked so happy then…but what would happen now?

"D-d-don't l-l-l-leave me! JOEL!!!!!" She collapsed onto herself in a fit of tears. I heard a light click-clack of heels and turned around. Kathy didn't notice, but I did. Izzy had walked in, looking down upon her sobbing mother, wondering what made her cry so fitfully. Izzy's hair wasn't curly; it was straight, probably straightened for this occasion. And her hair and vivid green eyes stood out against the black A-line dress she was wearing. And she was wearing black socks, but they were a backing to the white dress shoes she was wearing. After seeing this for a minute, I too started to cry, and not quietly. I cried fitfully, just like Kathy. I saw through blurry eyes…my tears hit the glass protecting the picture. _Izzy…_I whispered.

* * *

And just like that, I was back in the cabin, looking at the wood ceiling through blurred vision. I had been crying in my sleep. But just as quickly as I woke up, everything hit me. This is why Izzy acted as crazy as she did: she wanted to do all of the things that her father had missed out on. Judging by her mother's looks, Joel must have died young. But somehow, Izzy overcompensated by acting all out nuts, and her mother must be very protective of her, not wanting her to become sick like he did. It all made sense, all too well.

The next morning, we all boarded the bus, which was now fixed. In two hours, we were back at the film lot, and for some reason, it was really, really warm. Good thing I have summer clothes.

"We're in the middle of a heat wave right now, so stay cool!" Chris grinned. There's no way he planned this, but still, you never know. However, the heat made everyone go a little crazy—especially Trent. He literally went out of his mind. Doing things for Gwen, creeping her out, I saw it all. He was becoming more and more stupid and foolish, it was driving me nuts. I was able to get away from the heat with Tawny and Blaire. We spent our days playing on the DS in the air conditioned trailer. That is, until the air conditioner mysteriously broke down the day before our challenge.

"Why is it so fucking hot in here?" I complained as I made my way inside. Today was particularly warm, so I was wearing my bikini, my wrap, and my sandals.

"Chris…broke our AC…on purpose!" Tawny panted.

"Now we're sweltering with everyone else. At least Courtney and Chase get better treatment than we do." Blaire said effortlessly. "I'm used to the heat. Tawny isn't, and apparently, neither are you."

"I am! Just not this hot! There's usually a pool somewhere to cool me down, and the pool here has sharks in it."

"You look like Izzy with those clothes." Tawny commented.

"Oh really? Thanks!" I twirled in place, but I generated warm wind currents, so I stopped. "The air in here is so still! I'm generating warm wind currents by just moving!"

"We want to open the door, we were even given permission to do so, but since you're here, we don't want to risk you revealing yourself here." Blaire explained.

"Oh, then I'll leave. Don't worry; I can bear with the heat on my own." I waved good bye before I left the trailer, making sure to keep the door open.

**

* * *

**

Courtney's POV

"The heat from these surveillance boards isn't helping Chase!" I yelled at him while we were lazing about the room.

"Hey, it's not my fault Chris wants to make us suffer! It's his damn fault that he broke the AC for us too! He knows the control room can't afford to overheat, especially in this weather."

"That's it! I am complaining to Chris!" I got up and stormed out of the tent over to Chris's cabin and barged in since the door was open. _I guess my manners aren't what they used to be; I'd normally knock._ "CHRIS!" I then saw what he was eating. Five star food! What the heck?! "Chris…" I seethed.

"This is NOT what it looks like Courtney! I swear! This is not my food!"

"Oh, it's EXACTLY what it looks like! I can't believe you spend this much on yourself!"

"Well, a guy has to stay handsome."

"Look Chris, I want AC, and I want it now. Chase said that the surveillance room is going to overheat if you don't put the AC back in. He also told me that the beauty products in the trailer will go bad if you don't put the AC back in there too. Tawny and Blaire told him so." He was too shocked about me discovering his food that he didn't notice that I lied about the trailer. I didn't want Tawny and Blaire to suffer too!

"Fine, fine! I didn't actually break the AC; I just turned off the cold setting. You can turn it back on, no worries. I wouldn't ACTUALLY break the AC; it's too much money to repair it again." Cheapskate.

"Okay. Thanks Chris." I sweetly thanked before leaving him to his caviar. Who has caviar for brunch anyway?!

**

* * *

**

Third Person POV

Everyone sweltered in the heat. The trailers, though they had AC, had timed AC in order to save energy. That meant that the AC came on only at night, and even then, it was at midnight. Chris never got around to telling Tawny and Blaire that they could turn on their AC if they wanted to; he didn't like being bossed around, especially by someone like Courtney. Of course, when it came to his agents, the network, and lately, Chef, he ALWAYS followed their rules because in that case, it was his job—and his looks—and his sanity—on the line.

Leshawna's hair was becoming more and more frizzy, and she feared it would burst off her head, and complained about it. Heather had nothing to worry about, but her bald head was getting sunburned.

"Watch your hair; it could fall off your head."

"Watch your face, it might grow as red as your bald head." Lindsay and Beth snickered as this verbal fight took place in front of them. Heather didn't even have the energy to work up a comeback, but she silently swore revenge on her during the challenges. All in all, there was a lot of complaining, the most from Harold, but DJ was in a small kiddy pool half the time, and Duncan…he was hiding out in Courtney's cabin. And when Courtney walked into her cabin after lunch, she got a pretty big shock.

"DUNCAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Ah, I just came to crash here. This seems to be the only place with some nice, cool AC." He plopped down on her bed.

"Ew, Duncan, you're all sweaty! Get off!" She leaned over the bed to where Duncan was now resting in order to push him off.

"No." He pulled her hand down so she was now belly down on the bed. "And how would you know that I'm sweaty? I thought you liked hot and sweaty guys."

"No way!" Duncan turned over so he was now on his stomach, looking Courtney in the eyes. "Um…" Duncan silenced her by pressing his lips to hers, and she soon melted into the surprise kiss, which then turned into a SURPRISE! Make-out session.

"Like hot and sweaty guys now?" Duncan whispered in Courtney's ear. Courtney could only muster a groan. "I thought so." After this continued for about 15 minutes, she stopped and rolled over on her back, off of Duncan. She seemed content, and Duncan couldn't help but to spoil her mood. "So…do I get to second base now?" He smirked, and received a prompt kick to his shin.

"No, you don't. At least, not with that attitude." She immediately regretted saying that latter sentence.

"Oh really? Then with what attitude?" He kissed her neck softly, making her go stiff.

"Definitely not that attitude." He kept kissing her softly anyway, much to Courtney's dislike. "What will it take to get you off me?!"

"Uh…second base?"

"No! I already said no!" Then a brilliant idea popped into her head. "Hm, you need something to keep your mind off of me, and Chris needs a few laughs to boost ratings."

"Princess? What are you getting at?" He had a feeling it was going to involve him and a lot of humiliation. Surprisingly, it didn't.

"How about you hurt Harold? Bully him a little? For me?" Courtney asked as sweetly as she could while her fingers crawled up his arm. She still hated Harold for putting her place in the competition on the line because he didn't like Duncan. She had nothing to do with it! But now…she did. And he was going to pay. A grin spread across Duncan's face.

"If I do it, do I get to second base?"

"We'll see."

"Well alright then. Consider Harold…bullied." Duncan cracked his knuckles.

"Now leave. Part of the deal." Courtney got serious once again.

"What deal?"

"My tacit deal. You have to leave…now."

"Fine, fine." Duncan muttered to himself as he got up and left the cabin. The surveillance system was lagging due to the heat, so the cameras only caught a brief flash of green and black. No one would be able to tell it was him, even Chase didn't notice, but that was because he was lounging under the AC vent, sighing in delight as the cool wind hit his face.

Nighttime was no cooler. Okay, it was a little bit cooler, but not by much. And everyone went to bed warm. The AC didn't kick in until midnight for the guys and the girls, and Julie didn't go to sleep until the AC turned on, partly because she was too warm to sleep and that her latest dream was on her mind. _Izzy's father died? That's why she acts the way she does?_ Izzy was long gone, but memories of her stayed with Julie even after she left. And that is what bugged Julie most of all—until she fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Nikki and I: OH THAT WAS SO SAD!!!!

Tawny: GIVE ME ANOTHER TISSUE!!! *Blaire hands Tawny a tissue, which she blows into furiously* Thanks.

Julie: I'm torn! Izzy must have had such a troubled childhood!

Blaire: Did you see those parents? If Izzy had crazy relatives, surely they must come from one, if not both sides of the family.

Chase: It's going to be okay Tawny. I mean, it's sad and all, but maybe Izzy did take her "mother's advice" the wrong way.

Julie: SSSSSHHHHHH!!!! You don't know if Izzy could be here right now!

Nikki: Crap.

Me: Do you think Izzy could take all of this discussion the wrong way and kill us in our sleep?

Tawny: She will be a formidable opponent. HI-YA!!!

Nikki: I have my katana at the ready if Izzy does come.

Blaire: We all do. So while we defend ourselves against Izzy (if she does show up), review please!

Me: That's my line!

Blaire: Not this time.


	23. Happily Ever After?

**A/N: **Going strong ladies and gents! Here is the fifth challenge, with some very depressing news. You might already know, but just read, and you'll see what it is. I was able to come up with a pretty sweet backstory for a certain sadistic host, so read it, give me your opinions...please? I hope I caught something just right, and hopefully, this idea hasn't been taken. If it has, I'm sorry to whoever came up with the idea first! There's another dream up next, so keep reading folks! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.**

* * *

**

**My POV**

"Crap Chris! I hate you so much right now!" I yelled to the ceiling when I woke up. It was so damn hot! And there was no AC to spare!

"We all do." Leshawna said.

"So quit complaining!" Heather added. I bounded out of the top bunk and immediately put on my regular clothes. It was challenge day, so no wearing my swimsuit. I don't want to adopt a new look, especially not in this heat. I went to Tawny and Blaire again after I finished getting ready for the day and eating breakfast.

"You have AC!" I cried out in joy. The trailer was cool again! Yay!

"Yeah, Chris turned off the cool setting in the trailer." Blaire said while skimming over an anime magazine.

"But Courtney was able to bring back the AC for herself and us!" Tawny added smiling.

"Courtney? CIT Courtney? What did she do to Chris?!" I wanted to know. Courtney must've done something! If she killed Chris, I'd throw a party.

"We don't know, but whatever it was, it worked! We can live again!" Tawny let out a sigh of relief.

"You should go out and look around. Explore or something. You've got Western themed challenges today. You have to jump from 700 feet onto a horse, sitting."

"So it's probably going to hurt your uh…groin area!"

"Some quick-draw challenge is next; it's with water guns, and the water might've evaporated for all I know. And lastly, your team is going to be cattle, and you have to dodge the cowboys who are going to be lassoing you, in other words, the opposing team. But these will only happen if you tie on the first challenge."

"The other team'll be easy to defeat. You'll have to wear cow udders on your head for the other challenge. They're not real, don't worry. They're just…humiliating!" Tawny snickered.

"Oh, all right. Thanks!" I left them. They wanted me to leave, and they were right. I had to be out there in order to retain my amicability. I can't become isolated, not at all!

**

* * *

**

Gwen's POV

Ugh, I feel awful. Maybe it was all that poi and other food I ate back on the island. Or maybe it's Chef's food here. Either way, I'm about as sick as can be, and in this heat too! Heather and Leshawna, for once, aren't arguing as they share a beach umbrella, DJ is in the kiddy pool—again, Duncan is relaxing his feet in water for some reason, Lindsay and Beth are sitting on the steps to the girls' trailer, and Justin was relaxing while Owen was fanning him with a palm leaf. I then heard a thud. Owen must've fainted. I wouldn't be shocked at all if I found that. And Harold was still complaining about how hot it was. Something about it being too hot to do anything, and for once, he was right.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"My mad skills are leeching out of me." Harold had collapsed because Tawny and Blaire had purposely turned off the heat to boost ratings for Chris--and to get a good laugh out of some people, like Harold. He was struggling to get up in the camera's view. "I can feel it! My mojo isn't sweat proof!" Harold collapsed to the ground again, and he crawled out of the trailer. Tawny and Blaire turned the AC back on, and they laughed their asses off.

* * *

It's a challenge day, something I REALLY don't want right now. At least Trent hasn't managed to screw up so terribly. His nine obsession, along with the "me" one, came back, and I'm really hoping he doesn't throw another challenge for me. I need to win this on my own! I then sneezed—again.

"I can't be getting a cold in this heat!" I complained. Trent was sitting with me while I was deep in my thoughts.

"Water? You're the only girl I'd risk catching some heinous virus from." Trent offered me a blue bottle of water. That…was a little creepy. I nervously chuckled.

"That's uh, sweet Trent, thanks. It's probably just allergies." I hope he doesn't become creepier. The heat does things to the mind. Or it could just be Trent…being Trent.

"Yeah." Then Trent started wiping the opening with his shirt sleeve—nine times! And he counted out loud too! That…creases me.

**

* * *

**

**Confession Cam**

"Sweet! Think I just scored a few extra bonus points!" Trent told the camera in joy. Tawny and Blaire face palmed themselves.

"And we're back to zero on the relationship scale. Not that anyone's counting--I mean, besides Trent." Gwen seethed. Blaire sighed in exasperation.

**

* * *

**

Chase's POV

"DUDE, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU TAKING ME?!" I yelled to Chef. Only a few minutes ago, I was forcibly kidnapped from my cabin by Chef and a blindfold put over my eyes. At least Courtney didn't see that. She'd have a field day if she saw it.

"Oh, you'll see." Chef chuckled sinisterly.

"This isn't exactly how I was planning my morning!" Then I was lifted up and flung over Chef. "What—what are you doing man? DUDE, PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!!!" We were going higher and higher up…something. I could tell because the sun was beating down harder and harder with each footfall Chef made. I was then flung onto a floor. It felt wooden.

"Open your eyes geek!" Chef yelled at me. I guess that was his nickname for me. I opened them, and I saw where I was. I was up on a diving board, who knows how high up in the air, looking at a bull's eye painted on the ground. "Chris wanted me to test this challenge to make sure it's safe. You're doing it instead."

"WHOA! Why aren't you doing it?!"

"HE wanted to use COURTNEY, BUT SHE REFUSED! SO HE CAME TO ME! AND NOW…I'm getting you to do it for me. And I won't LET YOU refuse." Chef grinned. "Just jump and make sure you don't die." This guy must have one sick mind.

"NO WAY! I AM NOT TESTING ANOTHER ONE OF CHRIS'S CHALLENGES! THE LAST ONE NEARLY KILLED ME!" Flashbacks of that gorge and the sharks ran through my mind.

"WE'RE RUNNING LOW ON INTERNS, AND YOU, YOUR GIRLFRIEND, AND HER FRIEND ARE THE FEW PAID INTERNS WE HAVE! SO WE'RE GETTING OUR MONEY'S WORTH!!!" _At least Chris is. Which means a bigger cut for him._

"I'M STILL NOT DOING IT!" Chef then screamed and picked me up and attempted to throw me off the board! No way! I'm not doing this! I grabbed onto the wood just as I passed it, and now, I was hanging by my two hands.

"DAMN IT!" He started stepping on my toes.

"NO! NO! AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" He got the better of me, and I fell down to the ground. "Ow."

**

* * *

**

My POV

I heard two shots ring in the air. DJ squeaked, Harold bumped his head on the trailer window, and Beth screamed at a non-existent Chris.

"Take it easy. Guns are loaded with blanks." Chris was wearing a grey cowboy hat and a black cowboy shirt. He blew dust of the top of one of the gun barrels. He then twirled them and put them back in his holsters. Where did he learn to twirl guns like that? "At least one of them is." Chris started talking in a Western accent. "Since there's no beatin' the heat, we're going west this week! There's a town meetin' at high noon! Be there, or I'll drive you dead beats outta town!"

"If you're driving us out of town, can we go to the mall?!" Lindsay asked. I mentally face palmed myself.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Tawny and Blaire, as a way to extend their apologies to Leshawna, attempted to brush her hair and apply some foundation to her face. However, since the AC was off and the humidity had built up in the room, the hair started to frizz, and then explode into an afro. "Ugh, damn humidity! What you think you looking at? Nothing to see here!" Tawny and Blaire were both shocked, and then they started snickering. "Oh, I'm gonna get you two bitches! I'm gonna get you!"

"Sorry, we're protected under contract by Chris! You can't lay a finger on us!" Tawny had collapsed with laughter.

"Just wait and see you bitch! Just wait and see..." Leshawna threatened before she started to leave.

"Need help getting out of the door?!"

"That hair is sure to get you stuck! Quick Tawny, get the butter!" Blaire started to get into the swing of the insult. Leshawna growled before slamming the door to the trailer.

* * *

"It's quarter to high noon partners! Get wranglin'!" He started walking away. "Uh…that means follow me." We shrugged and started following him to the Western set. So this is where our challenges are going to be taking place. We were by some stables and a saloon with a water tower near us. There was another extension that towered high up into the sky, and there was a strong warm breeze blowing. I hate warm air. Leshawna, for some reason, had an afro. Probably due to humidity, but it was dry. Maybe Tawny did it! Oh, good one Tawny! Duncan got up on a ledge and pushed her way through Leshawna's hair. Okay, that's just cruel.

"Listen up partners! In any good Western, there are heroes, outlaws, horses, and pretty dames. The hero defeats the outlaw and rides off into the sunset on the horse."

"What about the pretty dames?!" Beth asked with glee. Did she not know about the female neglect back then?

"NONE OF YOUR BEESWAX!" Chris chuckled and patted Beth on the head. That's new. "Just messing with ya. They usually hang out in the saloon during the bar brawl."

"Bar brawl? Cool." Harold started doing some weird karate moves, but he was bouncing all over the place. Duncan took advantage of this and tripped Harold over, making him fall into a water trough.

"Awesome reenactment Harold! Most brawls do end up with the losers in the water trough." Duncan was right—sadly.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Back home, my peeps and I look out for each other! Harold may be small and strange, but that boy is still my peep! I've got my eye on Duncan." Leshawna said. Tawny and Blaire were still snickering because Leshawna still had an afro.

"I can't believe Duncan! I thought he was over the whole "Harold attempting to vote off Courtney" thing." Julie looked at the camera. "Okay, I was happy when Harold tripped over. But even though I hate Harold, he's still a human being, and Duncan shouldn't be treating him like that!"

"You know, Courtney put Duncan up to it. Bullying Harold, I mean. I heard about it from Courtney. She really likes to brag, especially when she's won against Duncan." Tawny explained.

"You know how hard it is to win anything against him." Blaire added.

"Oh yeah. Well it makes great TV! And I just love seeing Harold get dealt his just desserts!" Julie responded before leaving the trailer.

* * *

Harold got up and shook the water off of him like he was a wet dog.

"Oh yeah! Feels good!" The water landed on Justin in steady drops, and they sizzled on his body. That was probably due to the heat, which meant that he overheats easily. Yeah, that's probably it.

"Enough with the man candy! All eyes on me!" Chris then shot two blanks, one from each gun. He then showed off his gun-twirling skills—again. "Time for your first challenge! No cowboy we're spitting at would go one day without saddle practice. TIME TO SADDLE UP!" A horse, as if on cue, started farting like crazy. It was an old, dingy, poorly fed thing, probably due to Chris's budget…or him wanting to make us suffer. "That's the best steed we could afford?!" Now this was definitely due to budget problems.

"You want a five star hotel and champagne and caviar for breakfast?! I got a club somewhere!" Chef yelled, though I couldn't see him. And for once, Chris seemed intimidated by Chef.

"It's perfect! Don't change a thing!"

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Oh, I love horsies! Justin told me I looked like one!" Tawny face palmed herself while Blaire shook her head sadly. "He's so...great..." Beth frowned when she realized that Justin had really insulted her. She ran out of the trailer crying.

"She does that a lot now huh?" Tawny commented. Blaire nodded in agreement.

"I spent three summers at Medieval Steve's Medieval Camp. We learned to joust, ride horses, and how to look manly in tights." Harold nodded. Tawny and Blaire were looking at him in shock, and started laughing. "It's harder than it looks."

"Who says a Western has to end with a guy and his horse? This is the movies! They guy always gets the girl...meaning me." Trent smiled. _Yeah right, you just wait and see you dolt. _Tawny and Blaire both thought at the same time.

* * *

Duncan was already at the horse, ready to mount it. "You call this a challenge?"

"Not so fast. You cowboys and cowbabes are gonna have to mount the steed from up there. Not there. WAY up there!" He pointed up to a wooden diving board. There's no way in hell this is safe! "Since the Gaffers won last week, they get to go first. Don't worry, our unpaid interns have assured us it's safe."

"We won last week. Why do we have to go first?" Gwen asked.

"BECAUSE I SAID SO! And I'm your host: Chris Maclean!" Gwen sneezed in response.

"Guys, I really think I'm coming down with something."

"Don't worry, we'll help you up the ladder." Duncan replied.

"Not funny Duncan!" I glared at him. He seemed completely unfazed.

"Uh, guys, Gwen really is sick. In her condition, she'd probably fall right off the platform and land on that poor horse." Trent walked to us. Here we go again.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Stupid!" Trent face palmed himself. Tawny and Blaire got the feeling he'd be doing that a lot in the trailer today.

* * *

"That's the point Trent. Look, Gwen, I'll go in your place. You need to rest up. Besides, Chris might have something much worse in store for us. Don't you, Chris?" I glared at him.

"Uh…sure, Julie. Sure." Chris quirked an eyebrow at me.

"No Julie, it's okay. I'll go." Gwen walked to the ladder slowly with everyone else on the team cheering for her.

"We're going to need a new team captain." Duncan commented.

"I heard that!" Gwen yelled and climbed it all the way to the top. I saw her peer over the platform.

"Break a leg Gwen!" Trent yelled. This time, I face palmed myself.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"BREAK A LEG?! That's what Trent says to me as I'm about to plummet 100 feet?!" Gwen exclaimed yet again.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!! I cannot believe how stupid Trent is!" Julie screamed.

"Stupid, stupid!" Trent face palmed himself twice.

* * *

"You say that for the stage and theater, NOT FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" I sighed and then saw Gwen turn back. Phew, maybe she heeded my words. Then I heard a loud sneeze. Gwen was now plummeting to the ground.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Acceleration equals mass times the gravitational constant occasional equational--not good people!" Harold set down the notepad and pencil he was using. "Not good." Blaire quirked an eyebrow at Harold.

* * *

"GWEN!" I screamed. But she landed on the horse just fine. No, not fine. She looked awful. She collapsed onto the ground, and Trent went to help her up. Maybe he won't screw this up.

"Thanks. Just watch my left—OW!" I heard a cracking as Gwen screamed. "Arm!" Oh boy, Trent screwed up BIG TIME.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Trent face palmed himself three times.

"Oh...crap." Julie rubbed her temples. "I can already tell this day is going to be just PEACHY for Gwen and Trent."

* * *

Leshawna pulled Trent away—literally—and helped Gwen up.

"THAT WAS AWESOME GWEN! Gaffers one, Grips, you're up!" Chris announced. Gwen was taken away from the rest of us by Leshawna. Trent sighed heavily.

"It's not like things can get any worse." And of course, Trent was wrong. When he jumped, he landed right on a wood post of a corral.

"YEEE!!! Glad it wasn't me! Gaffers one, Grips zip! Harold, you're up!" Harold jumped, and he landed just fine. Duncan jumped and landed on top of Harold. I snickered to myself. "Way to pad the saddle Duncan!"

"I think I broke my coccyx!" Harold yelled. His tailbone? Then again, that is a possibility.

"Gaffers three, Grips zilch!" Owen jumped next, and after chasing the horse, Owen got his team a point. DJ used something to glide down, but the wind picked up and sent him to the electrical wires, where he was electrocuted.

"Uh, Chris? You are going to send someone to help DJ, right?" Leshawna asked. Chris started laughing.

"You mean you aren't?" I glared at him.

"Fine! Chef!"

"NO WAY PRETTY BOY!"

"I'll give you a raise!" Chef started walking to the electrical wires, mumbling under his breath. "Justin! You're up!"

"Uh, says right here page 37 of my Gluteus Maximus contract, I am forbidden from any form of jumping that might strain my uh…assets." Justin made a lame pun. "Sorry!"

"Fine! Julie! You're up!" No one cheered for me. I guess no one trusts me that much anymore, not even my own teammates. I walked over to the ladder and started climbing up the many, many steps up. This had to be over 100 feet off the ground! Okay, this is just like the cliff challenge. I can SO do this. I jumped off, yelling yee-haw in true Western fashion all the way down. And sure enough, I landed seated on the horse. And it hurt SO MUCH!!!! But I didn't let it show.

"All right!" I got off the horse and left to join my team. Beth and Lindsay went at the same time and got points for their team. But we were still in the lead.

"Looks like the Gaffers are in the lead! And that means they've won…somewhat." Chris chuckled. "There are two more challenges, and it's best two out of three! Did I neglect to mention that? No matter! Follow me cowpokes!" We followed Chris to another location in the Western section. "The hallmark of any good Western is the quick-draw cowboy showdown! Captains will pick their strongest cowpoke to compete in what will likely be a fight to the death!" Then Chris received a call on his cell phone. After a short talk, he announced that his lawyers informed him that the fight will only last until someone either cries like a baby or is mildly injured. He told us to pick our cowboys for the quick draw.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"If I'm going to have any chance with Gwen, I've got to find some way to help her out." Trent sighed.

"Throwing challenges isn't one of them." Tawny grumbled, and she received a prompt elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Blaire.

* * *

"The Grips pick…Owen!" Trent announced. Oh…crap. He's angering Gwen like this—again. Such a screw-up!

"What?! You want to use Owen for target practice?! He's a guaranteed hit!" Justin complained.

"He is a little…large." Lindsay added. And again, she was right.

"I'd practically take up the whole road!" Owen slurped water out of two water guns. But he was dressed in nothing but some chaps, boots, a hat, and his underwear.

"Owen! Put some pants on!" Heather complained.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"He's throwing challenges for me again. I do not want to win this way!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Why not?" Tawny asked.

"Because I want to actually try to win!" Gwen growled before she slammed the trailer.

"Finally I did good. Man, girls are complicated!" Trent sighed. Tawny shook her head.

* * *

"Owen! We needed that water for the quick-draw cowboy showdown!" Chris whined like a little toddler.

"Don't look at me! I ain't lugging anymore water in this heat!" Chef asserted.

"Sorry, I was thirsty!" Owen burped and explained to both men.

"Okay! New challenge!" Chris yelled. We walked back to the corral. "All right! Since Owen ruined the last competition, your next challenge will be calf roping!"

"Where are the cute little baby cows at?" DJ asked. Okay, that sounded so weird and wrong coming from him, especially because he's a 16 year old guy.

"There aren't any. Grips are the cowboys, and Gaffers are the cattle. The cowboys rope the cattle, they win. The cattle dodge the cowboys, they win."

"How do we know who's who?" Trent asked. I thought Chris clarified that.

"Grips get to wear these stylin' cowboy hats. Gaffers get to wear…UDDERS!"

"You just had to ask!" Heather spat out. Trent apologized, but then he said that Gwen would look cute in the hat—"udderly" adorable. BARF!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"'Udderly adorable'? Ah, stupid, stupid!" Trent was face palming himself so hard that his forehead started growing red. "I'm totally blowing it again!"

"Oh, it took you THIS LONG to realize?! And by the way," Tawny snickered. "YOUR FOREHEAD IS RED!" Tawny burst into laughter while Trent glared at Tawny before leaving the trailer.

Harold snickered. "I have cow boobies on my head!" Tawny literally kicked Harold out of the trailer after he said that.

Duncan looked at the camera for a while, Tawny and Blaire snickering at how he looked with the udders on his head. "Stupid million bucks." He grumbled. In the back of his mind, he knew Courtney was going to see this, and when he snuck back to her, she'd have insults and laughter in store for him. He heaved a sigh before leaving the trailer.

* * *

"Would the cows care for some hay?" Chris mocked. He was standing on top of a bale of hay.

"Would the host care for an udder sandwich?" Duncan glared at Chris. Courtney would have no end of laughter with this if she were watching right now! So yeah, Duncan had every right to be pissed. I was pissed at Chris, but that's just because the hats are ridiculous.

"I'm good! Chef will now judge the competition! Yo Chef!" Chef stood by Chris, wearing another dress—and his underwear was showing. "Love the dress…Chefette." Chef growled and got out some rope. He then proceeded to tie Chris to one of the wood posts.

"Maybe when I change, I'll come back and untie you." Chef threatened before leaving us with Chris.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"THANK YOU CHEF!" Julie shouted to the camera. "Chris SO had that coming."

* * *

"I can't feel my arms! Remember, if the Gaffers win this, they win the WHOLE challenge. Grips win, and we go to the next challenge. Let the calf roping begin." We took off and ran throughout the corral.

**

* * *

**

Chris's POV

Crap! Chef is SO not getting that raise! I can't believe he tied me up like this! I didn't even insult him that horribly! And now I have to judge these contestants! Just for that, I might actually cut his money! I can do that! But then he might leave, and I can't afford for him to leave! He's actually well-liked by our fans! Okay, some of our fans, but he's instrumental to the suffering of these contestants! I started wiggling in the rope, trying to get my pocket knife out of my front pocket. And sure enough, it worked! I got my pocket knife and used it to cut my way out of the ropes. Heather and DJ had just been roped in by Beth and Justin, respectively.

"That's two cows down, five to go!" I climbed up the fence and sat on the top to get a good look at everyone. The Grips were failing miserably, and even when Gwen gave herself up to Trent, HE then gave up too. This guy can't even read his own girlfriend!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Gwen finished blowing her nose. "Okay, this has to stop! Why can't Trent just play fair?!"

"I think the question is: why can't you accept his acts of kindness?" Tawny shot back. Blaire nodded in approval, and Gwen stormed out of the trailer--again.

"What girl doesn't love it when a dude helps her out? Holds a door, opens a pickle jar, helps her win a million dollar competition--" Blaire cut off Trent.

"Did you ever consider that maybe Gwen wants to win this herself without any help?"

"No...I guess not." Trent looked down, and slowly got up and left the trailer.

"Nice going Blaire." Tawny glared at her best friend. Blaire sighed.

* * *

Good TV, but there's a small part of me that takes pity for the guy. The last time I saw this happen to somebody…well, it didn't turn out so well for the guy—or the girl.

* * *

"_So how did you like that movie?" I asked Christine. He was my best friend Bill's girlfriend, but whatever! She was a chocolate colored beauty._

"_Oh, it was so great!" We both talked through the whole car ride home, Bill driving us. "Bill, honey, are you okay?"_

"_Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Here's your stop Chris."_

"_Hey, thanks man. See you on Monday." I left the car and went home. On Monday, and for about a month, Bill was constantly impressing Christine, who found it annoying, and I kept hitting on her. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea, but what do I care?! However, it drove Christine insane, and a week after one month had passed since we watched that movie, she broke up with Bill. He tried to win her back, he tried so hard, and I soon felt sorry for my best friend. I did everything to help him, even decline going out with Christine when she asked._

"_I just…I can't take this anymore! Bill won't leave my side!" Christine cried to me every day over the phone. This continued for three weeks. And exactly two months after we had gone to that movie, she had committed suicide. A gunshot to the temple, they said. It didn't matter. Christine was so stressed by Bill's desperation she committed suicide. In the blink of an eye, or the shooting of a gun, she was gone. And at 18 years old too. We were all 18, Christine, Bill, and myself. _

* * *

Bill was never able to find a girl quite like her, and he still hasn't settled down with anyone. He got so cold and angry; we started calling him…Hatchet. It's what he does now: butcher people's feelings. And when he came to me looking for work, I couldn't refuse his request. And so he's our cook now. Sometimes, I wonder what it'd be like if Christine were still alive, if I hadn't pushed both of them to the edge, because now, I realize it was my entire fault.

That's what made these people so eerie sometimes: they act just like me from when I was in high school. It's like looking into a bad mirror. But now, the Gaffers were by me. I focused back down to Earth.

"Hey, Chris, we can use these ropes, right?" Leshawna asked.

"Knock yourselves out Gafferinos." I grinned, pushing my flashback and my feelings aside for the time being. Then I saw what they did with the ropes: they turned them into lassos and roped in the Grips! Oh, that was awesome!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I just found out I have a new modeling contract. Apparently, I have excellent tendons." Justin stuck out his neck, which turned out to be extremely long. "See? See, check it out. You like that?" While Justin kept posing, Tawny snuck up to him and used a small PVC pipe to hit his neck. He recoiled back in pain, and Blaire pulled out hairspray and sprayed it in his eyes. Justin took off from the trailer. Once he was gone, Blaire and Tawny grinned and gave each other a high five.

* * *

I jumped off the fence and walked to Leshawna and Harold, who roped Justin. "Well, what do we have here? The cows have roped the cowboys! A bit unexpected, but what the hell! The Gaffers win!" The team cheered. I can't believe they won—again! Harold was lassoed by Duncan, and Duncan wrapped the rope all around Harold as though he were a mummy! Now THAT was funny!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Harold was still wrapped in the rope Duncan tied him up with. "I can get out of this anytime." Harold struggled to get out. Blaire sighed and rolled her eyes, got out a pocket knife, and started to cut away at Harold's rope. Once he was free, he thanked her and left.

"What? I can't watch people suffer like you, Chris, or Chase can." Blaire answered Tawny's evil glare.

* * *

"You Grips are losers! And you know what happens to losers? Which Grip wants to take the heat?" I had an L shaped branding iron at the ready, all warm from the small fire I had going. Owen, Lindsay, and Beth took off like there was no tomorrow, and Trent asked if I had a G shaped iron.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"G? Like for Gwen? Ugh, Trent wants to brand himself with my initial! This has gone way too far!" Gwen got up and left to walk around, and soon, she'd find Trent--again.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Trent hit his forehead until it was red--again. This time, Blaire used some foundation to cover it up since it wasn't fading away. "Haha, thanks!"

"No prob." Blaire responded and showed him to the door. For once, Trent left smiling from the trailer.

* * *

Argh, this guy is getting to me! I got another call from my lawyers. I can't brand anyone, so I have to resort to an awards ceremony. The branding was just for laughs anyway. "Legal says branding's out. Guess I have to settle for booting one of the Grips off in the most exciting Gilded Chris ceremony EVER!" I did some really cool dance moves to match. "Now, go shower! You stink! PEEEEEYEWWWWW!!!!" I emphasized their non-existent stink. "Hehehe, in keeping with the Western theme, you have to shower in that barrel!" I pointed to a screen and a barrel by one of the façades. "Have fun!" I walked off the set and back to my cabin for a real decent shower.

**

* * *

**

Third Person POV

After Chris dismissed the contestants, they went back to their trailers to get their towels and toiletries. The water had been turned off in the trailers (Julie checked for the girls, Justin checked for the guys), so they had no choice but to resort to the barrel. However, Trent knew of a communal washroom tucked away in the film lot, and Julie secretly followed him there. She waited until Trent got in and the water started running, then she quietly slipped into another shower. Trent didn't notice because he was too engrossed in his thoughts about how he screwed up today in front of Gwen.

Meanwhile, the other contestants were waiting in line to use the barrel. Gwen was first, and she was out of the barrel quickly. Harold was next, and he took a long time. Lindsay and Owen complained to him, and Duncan heeded their calls. Duncan shook the barrel Harold was in, and then pushed the barrel over, effectively pushing Harold out of the barrel—along with their water.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

Leshawna's hair was now back to normal after her shower. "I'd like one good reason why that punk-haired skull-shirted wannabe keeps picking on poor Harold!" Blaire sighed in exasperation. Tawny was upset that the humidity didn't get Leshawna's hair back into an afro.

"You wanna know why I pick on Harold? Here's a hint: she's about yea tall, has beautiful brown hair, and can tear you limb from limb." Duncan hinted. Tawny and Blaire knew the answer, but Tawny couldn't help but asking a certain question.

"Is it a bear?" Tawny and Blaire snickered. Duncan, who was now standing up, glared at them. He sat back down.

"No, it's not a bear. It's Courtney. Harold almost got Courtney booted last season. Yep, payback's a bitch." When Chris saw this, he cut to static before Duncan said bitch, for censor purposes.

* * *

Leshawna then forced Duncan to refill the barrel with water. He didn't go willingly, so Leshawna made absolutely sure he refilled the barrel. Everyone was done with their showers in about an hour and a half. Gwen was exploring all this time, and she found the communal washroom. Trent had walked out at this point, and Julie had just finished her shower. She ran to the door to make sure that Trent was completely gone, but she heard something else.

"What happened to bathing in a barrel like the rest of us?" She heard Gwen ask. She cracked open the door just a bit to hear more clearly. Thankfully, it was almost completely silent.

"Ah, I figured I've already made enough of a fool of myself today."

"Trent, we need to talk." Even Julie knew what that meant: Gwen was going to break up with Trent. Trent realized this too.

"Ah, please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"It's what you think it is."

"I told you not to tell me that!"

"Trent, you're a great guy, I mean that. But this isn't working."

"Is this because I offered to brand myself with a G?"

"NO—well yes. But it's not just that. You've got your…quirks, and I've got mine. I get that. But you've been throwing challenges for me, and I need to win this fair and square, okay?"

"What are you saying?"

"It's over. I'm sorry."

"I hear ya loud and clear." Then Julie heard another whisper.

"So do I." _Justin._ And as much as she wanted to get out there and stop the break-up, she couldn't. She wanted to scream and slap Gwen, she wanted to cry out loud like she did when she saw Izzy's mother's reaction to her husband's death, Julie wanted to do so many things at once. But something was preventing her from doing so. Little did she know, there was an invisible force keeping her quiet and frozen where she stood. Specifically, the Reality Court judge.

"I am sorry Julia. This is the course reality must take. I cannot let you interfere." He whispered.

"No…NO." She tried to scream, but it only came out as a whisper.

"You are not here. You are back in your bed, in your trailer, taking a nap. When you wake, this will be but a very real dream. _Awake_." And with that, Julie shot up out of her bed. Her hair felt wet, as though she had just taken a shower, but she felt as though she had just woken up for the next day. In one word, it was eerie.

**

* * *

**

Gwen's POV

Trent…now I can't get him out of my head! Maybe breaking up with him was a bad decision. I guess he could change. Maybe it was just the heat getting to his head. Or maybe his brain is still damaged. Oh, I don't know. I walked out of the make-up trailer I had just finished confessing in, only to be met by Justin.

"Tell them what I heard you say to Trent." Oh crap! He knows! But how?

"Uh…I'm sorry, can't hear you." I sneezed for good measure. "Head cold!"

"Fine, I'll do it then. Trent's been purposely throwing our challenges for Gwen." CRAP! THAT'S WHAT HE KNOWS?! OH CRAP! Lindsay, Beth, and Owen gasped.

"Gwen would never let Trent do that, ever!" Beth exclaimed. "Right Gwen?" CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!!!

"Depends on how…there are other ways to…" I tried forming a sentence, all while watching Beth tear up. FUCK! "Ugh, it's true."

"You two have been cheating?!" Beth asked in shock. "How could you?! You're our friend!" That's it! I've got an explanation! But they better believe me!

"It wasn't my fault! I wasn't in on it, I swear!"

"Why should we believe you?" Justin asked me.

"Because I broke up with Trent." Now Lindsay and Beth gasped.

"This—this whole thing could all be a ruse, some strategy to make it to the final two!" Justin theorized. Okay, that is not true!

"Wow! Beauty AND brains!" Owen exclaimed. I walked up to the three of them.

"I wasn't in on it, I swear!"

"Prove it." Justin asked me. Ugh, what will it take to make him stop?! Wait…but…no, I have to do it!

"Fine! Vote Trent off! Things have gotten way too complicated between us anyway. You'd be doing me a favor." I added the last sentence to make sure they trusted me. I probably just got Trent voted off, but…I have to do this. I have to.

"GREAT CHERRY CHEESECAKE! She's bluffing!" Owen exclaimed. Where does he get those phrases?

"We'll see about that. Either way, you owe us Gwen." I would've combated Justin's statement, but I guess this is my punishment for giving Trent the indirect boot. Karma…is a bitch. No doubt about it. I hung my head in shame and walked back to the trailer.

"Gwen! Are you—?" Julie asked me. I just hung my head even lower as I sat on my bed. I got out my journal and started writing. Julie knelt down beside me. "Gwen, are you okay? What happened? Did someone die? Rape you?" WHAT?!

"No…I…don't want to talk about it." I glanced at Julie as she got up.

"All right. I'll see you later tonight. I'm going out for a walk." I looked back down to my blank paper, and when the door slammed, the tears started to freely fall from my eyes. They hit the paper, and it was starting to slowly soak.

"TRENT!!!!" I cried out in sadness, and then sobbed to myself some more. Now I'm never going to see Trent again!

**

* * *

**

Chris's POV

I calmly walked to the lectern for another voting ceremony. I had on my blue tux yet again, and I was faced with the Grips—yet again. "Grips, this is getting insane! Embarrassing! You've lost three challenges in a row, and you lucked out on the last one! Not this time. Tonight, you'll be sending another one of your teammates home in the most dramatic Gilded Chris ceremony yet! Under your seats, you'll find your voting devices. Just press the button next to the person you want voted off!"

I waited for all of the Grips to cast their votes. "The votes have been cast! If you get a Gilded Chris, it means you're safe…for now." Chef walked out wearing a black suit jacket and his regular clothes, holding the Gilded Chrises. "What happened to your dress?" He just did an "I'm watching you" sign, and I got the message. I don't want any bones broken—or my face and hair messed up! On the lectern, a digital screen showed who was getting Gilded Chrises…and who wasn't. Oh boy…I saw it coming, but it's heart-wrenching to actually see it. "And the Gilded Chrises go to…Lindsay and Beth!" Chef threw the awards to the two girls. "Justin...and last but not least…Owen!" Justin and Owen hugged each other, and then they stopped.

"Sorry dude!" Justin said eyes wide. Owen apologized in response. Oh, that was good!

"What?! This has to be a mistake!" Trent complained. Oh dude…he just tried too hard to do any of this. I put on my best grin.

"Trent, it's time to go!"

"But I can't leave without saying goodbye to Gwen!"

"Yo Chef! Little help here?" Chef started walking to Trent and picked him up. I followed Chef to see Trent off. Trent was screaming for Gwen, and it hurt my heart, but I didn't let it show. "3:10 to Crazy Town, Trent is now aboard!" I had to insult him, for the cameras! Now to rub it in Gwen's face! I started running to the trailers and opened the girls' door to find Gwen sitting by herself. "Gwen, let's go. I have to show you something." She looked up, and shrugged and followed me. I led her to the surveillance room and shooed Chase out. I then pulled up the footage of the awards ceremony and replayed it for her.

"Did you call me in here just to make me feel bad?"

"Yes, yes we did."

"Well it worked." Gwen looked down. I wanted to give her a hug, despite myself, but I had to act mean and sadistic for the cameras.

"My work here is done. See all you groovy cats next time on TOTAL…DRAMA…ACTION!!!" I pulled Gwen into a semi-hug. It was my way of giving her a hug in front of the cameras. I've got a reputation to protect! "Now get outta here! Chase, lead her back to the lot."

"Come on Gwen, let's go." Chase beckoned her to follow him, and they both left the tent.

"Ah fuck. Now I have to do that disclaimer thing." I set up a table and paused today's footage just before I started laughing when Leshawna asked if I was going to get DJ down. I set up a camera, and I started reading from the sheet of paper I had written up. "We here at Total Drama Action care about the health and welfare of our competitors. Furthermore, no animals were hurt in the making of this show." I made sure to not only speak as though I was being forced to, which I was, but to also close with a smile. I have to make sure no lawsuits get on my back! We just barely fought off the one Courtney slapped us with! I sighed, turned off the camera, and left to my trailer. I need some sleep.

* * *

Me: HOLY CRAP! THAT IS SO SAD!

Nikki: Trent and Gwen breaking up? I KNOW!

Me: Not that! I saw that coming! I was talking about how Chris acted like Duncan, and Chef's girlfriend committed suicide because Chef acted like Trent.

Nikki: Oh yeah. That's sad too. They were all 18!

Me: I know right?!

Nikki: Hey, where is everyone?

Me: They're throwing some party to celebrate Trent leaving. I know it's upsetting, but think about it: the guy was lovesick for 13 days. Oh, that's unlucky.

Nikki: But the last memory he'll have on TDA is breaking up with Gwen and not saying goodbye and I'm sorry and all that junk. But I wonder what it'll be like when they meet up again...

Me: Oh trust me, I've thought this over, and the sights aren't that pretty. However, I'm betting that Trent will get back together with Gwen, or vice versa. I don't know how, but I know it'll happen.

Nikki: I'll take a piece of that bet, along with the bet Courtney's coming back soon.

Me: Let's go see what the partygoers have to say! And while Nikki and I party, review please!


	24. Aftermath

**A/N: **Hey, another update comin' at ya! I know it's almost been a week, but this chapter is special! It's the in-between time with the next episode embedded in it! That's right! It's the fabled talk show everyone's been talking about! You won't believe the drama that unfolds here! But we're starting off with a dream, and a dedication. LonerPunK712 and melancolie, this goes out to you two! Loner guessed right first, and this is technically melancolie's idea. Just the main idea of the dream, not the details such as what exactly happened. So again melancolie, HUGE inspiration to me, this goes out to you big time! And Loner, thanks for using all FOUR of my OCs in your fanfic "Portal to Another World". Thanks so much! And now, here's GEOFF'S little memory!!!! Very sad this one be. Also, you'll find out why these dreams happen! You'll be shocked out of your chair! So review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.**

* * *

**

**My POV**

In front of a door again?! WHY THE HELL DOES THIS DREAM KEEP RECURRING?! I open the door out of curiosity—again—and STILL find nothing! I turned around, rolling my eyes, and found myself under a patio of a house. I looked out, and there was a light hail falling. I was so close to sticking my palm out to feel the hail, but a voice stopped me.

"I would not do that if I were you." I turned my head and saw a middle aged man wearing jeans and a white polo shirt with a navy blue jacket on staring at me. He seemed familiar, and had shockingly white hair, but wasn't balding. He looked familiar…

"Where did you come from? This is my dream. I can feel everything here." I shot back with venom. Whoever this was, he was starting to get on my nerves, fast.

"All right. Do whatever you want." He laxly dismissed me.

"Fine." I stuck my hand out, but didn't feel a thing. When I looked at my hand, I saw the hail passing right through it. I snatched my hand out of the falling hail. "What? How come it passed through me?"

"I thought you figured it out by now. What is this, your sixth dream?"

"What? How do you know that? Who are you?" I asked him.

"Look at my eyes. What color are they?" He bent down close to me so I could feel his breath hit my skin. I looked at his eyes, looked deeply into them. No…no…

"They're…orange? But…NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WHAT AM I DOING HERE?!" I took two steps away from him.

"Now do you know who I am?" He asked me calmly.

"Yes! You're the judge! But what am I doing here?"

"These dreams you have had…what do they all have in common?" I answered immediately to this question; it was so simple.

"They all revolve around the others. Heather, Lindsay, Bridgette…Izzy…but WHY?"

"You have started to lose your Julie Rose form. This is merely a reality check, for you to appreciate these people and where they come from, why they are how they are presently." He looked out to the hail.

"So these dreams are glimpses of their pasts? But how come no one can see me?" I asked him.

"That is simple; most of these glimpses are so tragic that you would try to interfere each time. So…" He trailed off and looked at me as though expecting me to finish his sentence.

"So?" I asked him. I had no clue what he was getting at, what he wanted me to understand.

"So you cannot change the past. Surely you remember that rule."

"No, I believe Chase hasn't taught me that rule."

"Once something is lost or taken away, it cannot be replaced or brought back. That is rule one. Rule two is the past cannot be changed. Once an event has occurred, it is irreversible."

"Is there any way to change the past at all? Like time travel or something?"

"No. There is no way. Once it is done, it is done." He closed his eyes and nodded his head. "Now, I believe it is time for you to gain some insight on a specific person…" The whole scene dissolved, and now we were inside a house with pale yellow walls and a husband and wife sitting at a round table with coffee mugs in their hands. The smell of coffee was very strong in the air. I heard creaking and rapid footfalls as two boys who looked identical to each other jumped down onto the wood floor.

"Wow! It's hail! Do you see that Greg?" A kid with a skin tone much like Geoff's and blonde hair asked with all of the wonder of a five year old child.

"Yeah George! It looks so cool! Hey mom and dad, can we go out for a walk around the block?" The mother immediately stood up and looked at the two boys, coffee mug in her hands.

"No. It's hailing, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"But it's barely falling! And it's only around the block. It's not like it'll kill us or anything." Greg laxly dismissed.

"Please????" George pleaded. The mother looked at both of them, and sighed.

"Fine. Just around the block, and come home as soon as possible!" The boys were putting on their white sneakers, which both had different hand-drawn designs on them, Greg's with grey stripes and George's with red and blue stripes. "Be safe!" But the boys didn't hear their mother because they were out the door. The judge and I ran right through the closed door, being invisible and all and we followed these boys around the block. They were running and whooping with joy. They looked so happy and carefree. But then something bad happened. The judge filled me in.

"Fate is about to deal them a cruel twist."

"Is Fate a friend of yours?"

"An acquaintance. She told me that she was just trying to teach the boys a lesson. But she has always had a mean streak…"

"A mean…oh no." The hail suddenly rained down with such intensity that tree branches started to fall to the grassy ground. The boys were now running and screaming as the hail hit them with that intensity. As I was running behind them, I saw a red dot on the ground. "ARE THESE BOYS BLEEDING?!" I screamed to the judge.

"Follow them." He answered with his trademark calm and started walking quickly, so quickly that I had to break into a fast jog to keep up with him. I looked down to the ground; more red dots. I passed the boys in an attempt to see their condition…it wasn't good. Their hair was no longer blonde, it was a dirty red. Their faces were utterly mangled, and I couldn't spot their vivid blue eyes. And somehow, their teeth were smashed too, and they were bleeding out of their mouths, blood falling on the pavement all the way. I screamed and tried to stop them, but to no avail. They passed right through me.

"THEY'RE GOING TO DIE AREN'T THEY?!"

"Just wait!" He yelled at me, something that caught me by surprise. We were now in front of their house, and right in front of their house, the two boys collapsed to the pavement, blood trickling out of their mouths and their head. I reached my hand to touch the blood, but I couldn't feel the warmth of the blood, nothing. Just a blank feeling. I cried.

"Th-th-th-THEY'RE DEAD!" I cried in horror. And sure enough, my fear was confirmed when the scene melted away to the father going out to get his morning newspaper. He screamed and fell on his knees to the ground. Then that scene melted away to the waiting room of a morgue. The same two parents were crying, specifically the mother, but she was also screaming hysterically.

"We can't have any more children! They were only 13! Thirteen!"

"Those boys…thirteen years old?" I looked to the judge. He nodded his head sadly. A ding. I turned and saw a young blonde haired boy come out of the elevator. He was wearing light wash jeans and a white crew neck shirt. A young woman walked out of a wooden door and went to the young boy.

"Are you Geoff Anders?" She asked. Geoff? What does he have to do with any of this? Did his relatives die this day? Geoff nodded. "Come with me; I have some bad news." The judge and I followed the two into the morgue. We were now in a cold room, and on two stainless steel tables, there were two mangled bodies. I recognized them immediately as the twins, George and Greg.

"Geoff is friends with these two?" I asked the judge.

"Correction: WAS friends with these two. All three of them were best friends." The woman showed the bodies to young Geoff, whose eyes went wide and covered his mouth in horror.

"Do you know who these two are?" She calmly asked. Geoff's eyes scanned the two bodies. He then saw their shoes. One pair had grey stripes; the other had red and blue stripes.

"George and Greg? OH MY GOD! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Geoff immediately tried to lunge towards the mangled bodies, but the woman held him back.

"Calm down! These are the bodies of George and Greg Nelson right? RIGHT?!"

"Their shoes! Those are their shoes! Greg was grey, George was red and blue! HOW?!?!?!?!" Geoff screamed. His screams echoed throughout the stainless steel room.

"The hailstorm last night. The hail pounded on them once the storm became strong. They wouldn't have been able to survive!" But Geoff just kept screaming and fighting against the woman holding his arms back. Soon enough, the woman was able to drag Geoff out of the cold room, but I could still hear Geoff's screams of anguish.

"This is why Geoff fears hail. And this is why Geoff is a party person." The judge explained. I soon put the pieces together.

"He doesn't want to miss out on life. He doesn't want to die young like his friends. That's why he signed up for Total Drama Island right?" I turned to the judge.

"Now you are starting to gain insight. Duncan realized this too when Geoff told him during the phobia challenge."

"Duncan? He knows?"

"Yes. He knows. But this is when I take my leave, and you should too. I hope this has been valuable to you." The whole scene dissolved, and I opened my eyes. I was back in the trailer, and the sun was pouring in. _Geoff? He fears hail because of his best friends dying three years ago?_ I got up and rubbed my eyes. I didn't know what time it was, but I immediately reported to Blaire and Tawny.

"Blaire? Tawny?" I asked aloud as I stepped into the trailer.

"Hey, Julie!" Tawny waved wildly to me. "Wasn't it so upsetting that Trent was voted off?!"

"Yeah, and everyone but himself voted him off too. Talk about betrayal!"

"You know why, right?" Blaire asked.

"What? No, I don't think so." Blaire and Tawny exchanged glances.

"Um…"

"GWENARRANGEDTHEWHOLETHING!" Tawny suddenly screamed.

"What?" I asked.

"What she said was Gwen…arranged…the…whole…thing…" Blaire spelled it out for me.

"How?! Why did Gwen do that?!" I can't believe Gwen did that!

"She just wanted the Grips off her back. She was under pressure, so she arranged for the Grips to vote Trent off." Blaire sadly replied.

"Okay…well, I'll keep this secret, but in the meantime, I want to go see Courtney." This break time was my time to go see her.

"Uh…that's not the best thing to do right now." Blaire chuckled. "You see, Bridgette and Geoff arranged their own talk show with the campers that didn't make it to season one, along with the voted off contestants from season two, meaning Trent and Izzy."

"Yeah, so Chase had to take Courtney to Bridgette and Geoff to dispel rumors of Courtney being on TDA." Tawny added.

"Wait, so Courtney and Chase are gone? Who's watching over the surveillance?"

"No one, really. I mean, Chris and Chef are supposed to, but they never do anyway. So technically, we could go in and watch over everyone for the next three days, even watch the talk show Bridgette and Geoff host. There's a small TV in the surveillance room, so we can just watch from there." I smiled. At least I wouldn't be bored today.

"All right! Let's go!" All three of us left the trailer to the surveillance room to watch the talk show.

**

* * *

**

Courtney's POV

"WHAT THE HECK CHASE?! WHERE AM I?!" I yelled at Chase for about the umpteenth time. It serves him right for practically kidnapping me out of the film lot! We were now at another film lot, a much cleaner one, different from the one I stayed at.

* * *

"_Courtney, come on, we've got to go."_

"_Wha—what?" I had just barely woken up, and I was still in my nightgown. "CHASE!!!! GET OUT!!!!"_

"_FINE, FINE, AT LEAST CHANGE, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO LEAVE!!" Chase left me. As soon as I walked outside, Chase took me by the hand and we were soon on a motorcycle. "Get a helmet and grab on."_

"_Not to you!"_

"_Look, this is the only way I can ensure you're completely safe, and we've lost a lot of time as it is. So grab onto me tightly, because we're probably going to break the speed limit."_

"_Break the—how fast are you GOING?!"_

"_I don't know, maybe 130, 140 kilometers per hour?"_

"_CHAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE!!!!" I ended up grabbing onto him as we started speeding away from the film lot._

* * *

"Courtney, I know this is sudden, but you're on a talk show hosted by Bridgette and Geoff called TDA Aftermath. Both of them called all of the people who didn't make it to season one, but Geoff and Bridgette didn't know that you were with us all this time, so they think you're one of the people who didn't get back on."

"So I'm going to be on a talk show? Is that why you dragged me here?!"

"Yeah. Look, I can't go in there with you. The other campers are supposed to be arriving soon, so just blend with them, and Bridgette and Geoff won't know that you've been staying on the lot. However, the other campers might, so just dispel their rumors as best you can."

"You want me to LIE?! AND LIE TO MY FRIENDS AND FORMER TEAMMATES?!"

"Don't play that with me. I know Duncan's been rubbing off on you, so just this one time, lie to them. If you don't want people hounding you 24/7 (because that's what you'll cause if anyone finds out you're with us), then you'll do as I say. I'll pick you up in an hour."

"The show is that short?"

"Yes. So just be good, okay? And please: try to do what the people instruct. I don't want to have to drag a pissed off CIT from the lot."

"Gr…"

"Sorry, sorry! Look, here come the other campers now! I gotta scoot. See ya!" And with that, Chase left on his motorcycle. I turned around, and sure enough, the other campers were getting off a blue coach bus. _So THEY get to ride in style. They don't know how our bus ride went._ I blended into their group seamlessly. No one noticed I was with them. Inside, I could hear the studio audience talking animatedly.

"Hey guys! Long time no see!" Geoff called out. I couldn't see him, but I could HEAR his grin.

"Okay, so here's how things are going to work: we want all of you to wave to the audience when we introduce you, specifically to the camera if possible. Of course, there are a few exceptions." Bridgette added slyly. "First, everyone, get a seat on those couches!" We all ran to some blue and purple couches, and I decided to sit in the front. However, it was next to Katie and Sadie. Endless squeals. Oh joy. "Courtney! Hey!"

"Hi Bridgette." I summoned my most sincere smile, despite the fact that I wanted to kill her. How did she get her own talk show?!

"Dudette, we want ratings, okay? We're trying to rival Chris here, so we need you on this cell phone "talking" to your attorney about how you want to sue the PANTS off this show." Geoff held up a black flip phone that looked like it was from the early 2000s.

"That's basically it. So if you do that, we'll be so grateful for it. And I'm so sorry Chris didn't let you on. I swear, if you got on, you'd kick everyone's butt!"

"Thanks Bridgette." I took the cell phone from Geoff and started getting ready for my moment. Geoff and Bridgette said they'd cue me when I should say my lines, and then I was supposed to stop talking when Geoff gave another signal. Okay, so I'm lying to the entire viewing world, but if this show gets higher ratings or makes Chris jealous, I'm okay with it.

Bridgette and Geoff both sat next to each other on the middle couch, holding their hands to their ear and nodding. Maybe they have headsets in there? But whatever was said cued them to get ready for the show.

"AND WE'RE ON IN 3…2…" I didn't hear one, because Geoff and Bridgette started talking.

"What's going on everyone?! Welcome to the brand-new, totally off-the-hook Total Drama Action Aftermath Show!" Geoff introduced.

"We're coming to you LIVE to dish you everything Total Drama Action!" Bridgette added.

"This is where the REAL action is! Yeah-ya!" Then Geoff and Bridgette introduced themselves. "You may remember us from such series as Total Drama Island and it's even more thrilling sequel Total Drama Action!"

"Which we were voted off of for kissing, and lost out on a million bucks." Bridgette looked away from Geoff. What? Was this planned? I don't remember there being this much tension between the two.

"I still say making out makes for awesome television, but hey, now we've got our own show, and this is way more fun, right?! Yeah-ya!" Geoff was right about that. At least this is better than being tormented by Chris.

Bridgette looked angry, but then she started laughing. "Right. Now we get to hang with YOU and we're super stoked for the new season!"

"What'd you guys think of it so far? The film lot: totally awesome, right?" Oh please! That film lot is the bane of my existence! "We are SO psyched to be here!"

"Yeah, speak for yourselves!" Eva, who was on the back row couch, said.

"I was speaking for myself. But glad you reminded us you're here! Eva, everyone! We brought back all our peeps from first season!"

"They may be losers, but not in our book, right Geoff?" Bridgette. Ah, trying to make us feel good about ourselves. I already feel bad enough as it is not being back in my bed in my cabin on the film lot.

"That is so sweet you guys!" Katie and Sadie both cooed. Ugh, why did they sit next to me? Why?!

"Okay, we've got Cody!" Geoff introduced. Bridgette then introduced Noah, and then it was Ezekiel, then Eva again, Katie and Sadie. My cue to be on the phone "talking". I hurriedly picked up the phone and started talking into it with my most evil, scrunched up look I could summon on such short notice.

"We are going to sue the PANTS off this show Michael!" Geoff gave the signal, and I sighed and closed the phone. At least that's over and done. Bridgette introduced Tyler, and Geoff made a joke about telling Lindsay that Tyler was here.

"We've also got a ton of text and e-mails from all of you!" Bridgette went right into the next part of the show.

"Plus we'll have a couple of you on webcam, which is super, super cool!" Geoff added.

"Izzy—I mean, Kaleidoscope—will be here."

"And of course, Trent!" Oh no, this isn't going to turn out good. If he finds out that Gwen arranged for him to be voted off…things aren't going to turn out good.

"Aw, poor Trent, right? What happened to him is just so wrong!"

"We felt so terrible for Trent! Like, he went nuttier than my sister's peanut allergy! Hi Cindy!" Sadie waved to the camera.

"But he's still super cute! I barf in my mouth a little every time I think about what happened to him." Katie added. Sadie agreed, and then she barfed in her mouth. I wanted to barf right there, but I held it in. That's still really gross though.

"Uh, okay, cool, thanks for that. It's almost time to welcome our first guest." Geoff interrupted something else Katie and Sadie were about to say. "But first, take a look." On a giant TV screen, clips of Izzy's time on TDA started to play. Bridgette started narrating the whole thing.

"Izzy's time on Total Drama Action may have been short—"

"But it was a real wild ride!"

"The girl got a MONSTER crush," Geoff started drawing on a screen set up in front of him, and it showed a heart being traced around Izzy on the TV screen. I wonder how they do that…

"And later, suffered a serious blow at the hands of Chef Hatchet!"

"Chef thinks he's killed her. Look how freaked he is!"

"Serves the dude right! Oh, watch! Love this part! Check her out! Hilarious man!" Izzy sprung up in slow motion. "But ultimately, it was Duncan who killed Izzy's chances when the two took to the stage."

"Oooo, the drama! But ever the diva, Izzy will be back for more! Our first guest has impersonated a grizzly and was caught peeing in a pool. Currently number eight on the RCMP's Most Wanted, Izzy, AKA Kaleidoscope!"

**

* * *

**

Izzy's POV

Mmmm…graham crackers. I was watching the talk show from the waiting room, and I saw myself on TV.

"Ooo, I'm on TV!" I accidentally spit out my cracker crumbs. "Oops, cracker crumbs, you get back here!" I grabbed them from the air and stuffed them in my mouth. I then grabbed a grape and a finger sandwich and stuffed them in my shirt before walking out to join Bridgette and Geoff. And both of them got my name right! I returned their greeting. "So glad to be here."

"Awesome to have you! But bummer about the show! Gotta be tough losing out on a million big ones." Oh, I have the perfect response to that!

"Yeah well, you would know!" And the audience agreed with my response! YAY! I waved to the other losers, and Katie and Sadie waved back! I also said hi to the camera, and I saw my ex-boyfriend. "Graham cracker! That's my old boyfriend Graham! He got a restraining order against me last year. Remember that Graham? So funny! Okay, we were in the courtroom, and the judge was all like, 'You cannot come within 200 meters of the plaintiff or you shall suffer the consequences of this courtroom!' The long distance was hard, but we made it work. By the way, Graham, you should get new blinds for your room. What are they made of, lead? I couldn't see a thing with my binoculars! Miss you, Graham cracker! I'm totally into crackers right now, they're so flaky!" I pulled one out of my shirt and ate it.

"Kind of like someone we know." Bridgette commented. Geoff cleared his throat.

"So, Izzy, how did it feel to be the first one voted off the show?" I can't believe him! Oh, I have the perfect response to this!

"I don't know Geoff, how DID it feel? Was it disappointing? Humiliating? A sobering experience Geoff?" Geoff actually started to answer my question—until he realized he was supposed to be asking the questions. Oh, that was priceless!

"My life is an open book. Well, not yet, but it will be once I write it. And…you open the book." I chuckled.

"What went through your head after being voted off?" Bridgette asked me.

"When you realize you're not getting a Gilded Chris award, well, I can't lie to you—" Oh crap, the shocker! I can't lie!

"Wow, it's that painful to remember?" Bridgette asked again, eyes wide.

"No, I just can't lie to you! I was outfitted with a lie deterrent microchip that sends shockwaves at the first hint of dishonesty. That's a really nice top Bridge!" OW! I got shocked!

"Okay! So…what exactly did losing out on the Gilded Chris mean to you?" Geoff asked me this time.

"It meant that I missed out on that buttery chocolate statuette. Oh, I once took an art class sculpting chocolate nudes, and my instructor said I had a real flair for cocoa." OW! Shocked again! "Okay, okay, okay! He said I was totally loco! That's what he actually said!"

"I think it's time we played a little game called Truth or Hammer! Works like this: we ask you a question, and if you give us the wrong answer, a huge hammer will swing down and knock you clear out of your chair! Cool?"

"If my implant doesn't get me, the hammer will!" I cheerfully responded.

"Should we give it a test run?" The hammer came in, and I swiftly dodged it. "Hah, missed me!" Geoff congratulated me, of course. Wouldn't want to be hurt at my hands, hm?

"Bridge, a question please?" Geoff asked Bridgette, who then asked me where things went wrong for me in season two.

"I think it was when I turned down that secret alliance with Chef." I would've had a flashback, but Geoff and Bridgette, who were surprised at first, showed the clip of me turning down Chef's offer and kicking him in the gut! That was fun!

**

* * *

**

My POV

"WHAT THE FUCK?!?!" I nearly spit out the water I was drinking. Chef tried to form an alliance with Izzy first? I mean, I knew about the one with DJ, but this?! I had no idea!

"I swear I had no idea this happened!" Tawny immediately exclaimed.

"Me neither! Chase never told us anything!" Blaire added.

"Chef is going to pay!" I yelled at the TV screen.

"I would never hurt that intern." Izzy said. A whoosh and the hammer nearly got her.

"So…then what happened?" Geoff asked Izzy.

"My guess is Chef went and made a demon deal with DJ. Yeah, I think Chef threw the acting challenge with Duncan so DJ's team won and I lost, but hey, what do I know?" HOLY CRAP! SHE HAS THIS FIGURED OUT! OH, CHEF IS SO GOING TO GET IT NOW!

"Holy…crap." Was all Blaire could muster.

"Chef is going to get the business end of my fist!" Tawny held up her fist to the TV.

"Yeah, onto Trent!" Izzy yelled.

"Trent? Trent's next! We've got to see how he's doing!" I pulled Tawny and Blaire down to Earth so they could see what was going to happen next.

"Trent is such a stand-up guy; he did NOT deserve what happened, right?" Bridgette asked the ousted campers. Courtney was with them because, as Tawny and Blaire told me, everyone thought that she wasn't in TDA, so she had to be with them. So, Chase took her to the talk show, and he hasn't been back since. "And all because of Gwen."

"Whoa, back up Bridge. Couples break up, wasn't Gwen's fault." Geoff supported Gwen.

"Trent lost out on a million bucks because of Gwen."

"So? Gwen went behind Trent's back and told his team to vote him off. That doesn't mean—whoa." The audience gasped, and I soon saw why. I gasped, along with Blaire and Tawny, and for good reason too: Trent had heard everything.

"Ah man! You kidding?! Gwen did WHAT?! This is a joke, right?!"

"Whoa. Did someone not TELL the dude? Sorry man." The TV screen flew off the camera's view.

"Poor Trent!" Bridgette sympathized for Trent.

"How was I supposed to know?! That was harsh. Tough break. Gwen may have asked Trent's team to vote him off, but dude was purposely losing all their challenges. They would've done it anyway." Geoff stood up and argued his case.

"Maybe, but Gwen stabbed Trent in the back, she dumped him and told his team to vote him off the show to cover her own ass! That's low."

"Gwen should pay! So should Trent!" Eva yelled.

"Trent isn't innocent in this. What about the time he kissed Heather?!"

"THAT WAS HEATHER'S FAULT! FUCKING BASTARD!" I yelled at the TV.

"That was Heather's fault. She tricked Trent into kissing her!" Bridgette agreed with me.

"A dude hardly needs to be tricked into kissing the hottest girl on the show." Oh crap Geoff. You're so dead now.

"I cannot BELIEVE you just said Heather was the hottest girl on the show!"

"Uh…I mean, he shouldn't have kissed her. Ugh, I wouldn't have. It's the truth! You're super-hot too Bridge! You're sweet and caring, you know? Heather's just got an edge."

"Uh, it's called being mean, or have you forgotten how awful she was to me first season?!"

"She was like that with everyone."

"Oh, and you still think she was the hottest chick on the show! Maybe you should be dating her!"

"Well, maybe you should be with Trent! Sure are defending the dude enough!"

**

* * *

**

Izzy's POV

Oh no! I have to break up this lover's quarrel!

"Hey, did I show you that thing I can do with my eyelids?" I lifted them high up to divert Bridgette and Geoff's glare from each other.

"I think it's time we take a break."

"Oh, so now you want to break up?! Well that's just GREAT Bridge!"

"I think she means a break for ads. We'll be right back!" I smiled to the camera and snapped my eyelids back in place. "All right you two, you're still hosting this show, so I'll sit in between you, and we'll even arrange teams if you want!"

"I'd be more than glad to." Bridgette glared at Geoff.

"Same here." Geoff spat out.

"Okay you two! Let's have a seat!" I turned to the other campers. "Hey guys! We're doing this team thing, so can you pick which team you support? Either Team Gwen or Team Trent, nothing else!" I left to the middle couch and sat in between Geoff and Bridgette.

"WE'RE BACK IN 3…2…" My cue!

"We're back! We're talking Gwen and Trent with Geoff and Bridgette. Got a little sidetracked, but we're good now, right guys?" I looked at the two, hoping they'd for once start making out with each other. Both grudgingly agreed. "Okay! Seems our lovebirds can't agree on everything. Bridgette's on…"

"Team Trent."

"And Geoff is on…"

"Team Gwen. Whoo. Hoo."

"We need help settling this lover's quarrel, so thanks for all your text and e-mails! Oh, and feel free next time to use ESP. I'm psychotic."

"I think you mean psychic." Bridgette attempted to correct me.

"I'm pretty sure my therapist said psychotic. Okay! Should we check on Trent first?" Trent was sobbing and crying his eyes out! No offense, but that's kind of girly. "Uh…how about a video? Okay!" Geoff and Bridgette took over for me.

"A look at Trent and Gwen's relationship. CHECK IT OUT!" Bridgette glared at Geoff, who glared right back. Man, being in the middle isn't so good now.

"Ah young love. I remember what THAT was like." Geoff started first.

"Trent only had eyes for Gwen when he sang her a song at the talent show. What a sweetheart." All of the girls from first season cooed at the scene being played out on the drop-down TV screen.

"Yeah, he was a REAL sweetheart when Gwen was buried alive and Trent forgot to dig her up."

"The beach incident was totally forgotten until Heather came up with a plan to kiss Trent in front of Gwen."

"Gwen was devastated."

"So was Trent. Plus, Trent made it up to Gwen by supporting her in the final challenge."

"He ran alongside her carrying a rock."

"It was sweet, and it won Gwen over."

"Once on the film lot, Gwen and Trent's hookup didn't last long."

"Forced onto opposite teams, the stress of competition finally got to them."

"You mean it finally got to Trent."

"Um, so, he got a little love struck. Gwen dumped him and told his team to vote him off!"

"He was sabotaging his team's challenges! The Grips would've voted him off anyway! Dude did not deserve to win the million bucks." At this time, both Bridgette and Geoff were standing, and I could sense a fight breaking out.

"Okay, time to settle this. Either we talk, or you thumb wrestle." I ended up settling their argument—for now.

"Fine. Talk." Bridgette crossed her arms and glared at me.

"Okay! We know how you two feel! Let's hear from everyone else!" I gestured to the other campers.

"At first, I was totally on Team Trent. I mean, poor guy! But seeing that video reminded me about how devastated Gwen was when he kissed Heather." Sadie started.

"You mean when Heather kissed Trent." Katie corrected.

"Same thing!"

"Uh, no it is not. That's like saying you got our fave blue swimsuit in the second grade before I did, when I got it first!"

"You did not!"

"Did too!"

"I'm definitely Team Gwen. She's hot, and I have her bra." Cody held up Gwen's bra. Noah smiled at this.

"I'm Team Gwen, not because I like her, but because Trent is a loser—by choice!" Oh, Trent's not going to be happy when he hears that!

**

* * *

**

Courtney's POV

"Maybe it's time we bring out Trent." Izzy gestured to the TV that was lowering itself down. He was crying, and singing a song—and terribly too.

"Our next guest was unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend and was cheated out of a million bucks, please welcome, TRENT!" Bridgette announced. Izzy moved to the green couch. "And we're live at the TDA Aftermath with Trent, everyone!"

"Good to have you on the show dude! Brutal about before." Geoff attempted to apologize to Trent.

"Geoff is really sorry about what happened earlier." Bridgette was still glaring at Geoff.

"It's cool; wasn't his fault." Trent replied. Wow, how is he not upset at Geoff? I would be!

"So, what happened Trent?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure. Things were going great until Gwen and I were split on different teams. Then she and Duncan started hanging out,"

"Ugh! Duncan is so going to get it!" I had completely forgotten about getting payback on him! Ugh, he does that a lot now!

"Then the competition set in."

"And something else." Bridgette added.

"You mean how crazy things got?" Trent asked.

"How crazy you got! Careful how you answer this, 'cause a great big hammer could come down and knock you right out of your pants!" Geoff advised.

"Huh? I guess I decided somewhere that Gwen was more important than the money." No hammer came down. Was he SERIOUS?! Apparently, Geoff didn't think so, which solicited a slap from Bridgette. How did they get so on edge? And it's not even about their well being; it's about someone else's! "I don't know, I guess I just lost my game. I really let my team down. Sorry Grips." If I knew Chris, he wouldn't even be letting them watch this right now. So no contact with the Grips!

"I gotta ask you about the whole number nine thing dude! Check it out!" Geoff pointed to the TV screen, where flashbacks from the beach challenge started to play.

"Ah, dudes, this is SO not where my lucky number nine comes from!" It's not? "Ah Duncan, that IDIOT!" He can be an idiot sometimes. I'm confronting Duncan about this when I get back to the film lot. "Dude sure knows how to play the game. The number nine thing has nothing to do with Gwen. I had this toy train my granddad gave me when I was a kid right before he died. One of the wheels fell off, so there were only nine. I was devastated, so my mom told me nine was now my lucky number."

"Oh, I am so on Team Trent!" Katie cried. Sadie agreed. Oh my, maybe I should change teams.

"Uh, can I switch teams?" I asked.

"I knew Duncan was up to something!" Trent glared up at the TV screen.

**

* * *

**

Blaire's POV

"I AM SO GOING TO KILL HIM! I'LL KILL HIM! I SWEAR IT!" Tawny got up and started running.

"NO TAWNY! GET BACK HERE!" I grabbed onto her. "JULIE, HELP ME!"

"Got it!" Julie came and helped me drag Tawny back to the TV.

"Tawny, listen to me: Courtney will deal with him later. After she deals with him, you can do whatever you wish." I had to compromise; otherwise Tawny would take off running again.

"Blaire's right. Look, I want to kill Duncan as much as you do, but I'm holding myself back. I'm not about to endanger a teammate and a friend. Come on; let's get back to watching this." I can't believe it. Julie managed to calm Blaire down completely! Wow, this is great!

**

* * *

**

Chris's POV

All right, I'm ready. I'm in my Yeti costume, so they won't know what hit them. I can't believe Bridgette and Geoff got their own show! Ugh, I hate them! Hate them, hate them, HATE THEM!

"How's it going dude?" Geoff asked. I put on my best fake voice.

"Chris Maclean is the best host ever!" I changed my voice back to normal. "How'd you get your own show? YOU STINK!"

"Yo Chris! If I wanted to take a hot tub by myself, I would've—ooo." Chef just realized that I had the webcam on. I grinned weakly to the camera. "You on the webcam?"

"Chris?" Geoff and Bridgette asked at the same time.

"Don't believe a word Izzy says. She's crazy." Chef threatened the camera. He then turned off the camera.

"DUDE!!!! WHY'D YOU DO THAT?!"

"Because I don't want to be on TV, DUUUUDEEEE!!!" Chef grumbled as he walked away.

"Crap." I whispered to myself before changing out of my Yeti costume.

**

* * *

**

Eva's POV

Time to get revenge on my back-stabbing teammates!

"Courtney. Can I have that cell phone you're holding?" I asked her as sweetly as I could.

"Um…sure." Courtney hesitantly handed me the black flip phone, and I quickly dialed the cell phone number of the green phone on the table. It was the studio's number.

"Got a call! Hello?" Geoff asked. My turn to yell at them.

"Gwen and Trent stink! GO TEAM EVA!"

"You're on Team Eva? Why?" Bridgette asked. Oh, she's going to get it now!

"Eva should've won the 100 grand, and I'll pound anyone who even—"

"Eva?" Bridgette eyed me weirdly. I smiled sheepishly and quickly closed the phone and handed it to Courtney.

"Eva! I cannot believe you did that!" Courtney glared at me before turning her attention back to Geoff and Bridgette.

**

* * *

**

Geoff's POV

"Oh, speaking of getting pounded, it's time for That's Gonna Leave a Mark!" I introduced the next segment of our talk show.

"Ah, the humiliation never ends." Bridge added. I still hate her. I can't believe she supports Trent and not Gwen!

"Dudes, here's what you didn't get to see on the show!" I got out my pen and started drawing various things for all the clips, and I was laughing so hard at my own creations that I couldn't even draw something for Beth when she lassoed herself on accident!

"Do you guys think I could sing a song? It's something I wrote after Gwen and I broke up."

"Aw, for sure Trent." Bridgette. Ugh, why does she have to support him?! I remained angry at her while Trent was singing his song. But then, I realized that being angry at her was pointless, and in the end, we made up—or out—with each other.

**

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**

Courtney's POV

What a sweet song! Now I'm actually glad Chase took me here. Sure, Eva used the cell phone that Geoff let me borrow, I talked bad about Trent, swore to get back at Duncan, and lied to the entire viewing world about being on the phone, but I actually had a great time. Watching and reliving all of those memories really made me feel nice inside. However, I still have to confront Duncan. After Izzy announced that the show was over and the camera turned off, I left to the exit of the shooting stage.

"Stellar performance Court!" Chase smiled. He was already on his motorcycle, helmet on his head.

"What?"

"Oh, I was never gone! I was in a separate room watching everything!" I glared at Chase. "Oh, sorry! But I bet you have a lot to talk about with Duncan!"

"Yes, I do. Now, I want to go back, so take me back." I mounted the motorcycle and put on the helmet.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say. But I know you liked coming here, am I right or am I right?" He started revving up the motorcycle.

"Fine, you're right. I actually had fun."

"I'm glad. Now I don't have to drag a kicking and screaming CIT away from a film lot." He laughed before speeding off, surprising me again.

"CHASSSSSSSEEEEEEE!!!!!"

**

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Tawny's POV

"I guess that's that." Julie turned off the TV.

"It was pretty shocking, wasn't it?" Blaire asked her.

"Well, I'm shocked that Chris was on it. But that means you need to scoot." I told Julie.

"Actually, we all need to scoot. We have to be back in the trailer anyway." Blaire reminded us. "Okay, start scrambling the camera signal Julie, because we need to get out of here unnoticed." Julie immediately pressed a few buttons on her iPod, and we took off from the area without a hitch. "Keep going everyone!" We kept running until we reached the trailer.

"Yeah! That was fun! Let's do it again!" Blaire eyed me weirdly. "All right, we'll just stay here."

"Should I go and confront Courtney?" Julie asked us.

"Yes." I said without a second thought. "But not now. In an hour, go and check on her. Talk to her. Then, you leave. Make sure that she doesn't tell Duncan you're visiting her." We started playing Mario Kart in silence. Then, an hour later, my cell phone started ringing. I answered it immediately. "Hello?"

"Hey babe!" Chase. I smiled.

"Chase! How's Court doing?"

"Oh yeah, she's fine. I gave her a DVD of the talk show and a small DVD player so she could watch it."

"And also for Duncan to watch it?"

"Yeah, that was my main purpose."

"I'm going to send Julie over. Can you scramble the camera signals?"

"Will do. I'm in the surveillance room, so whenever Julie's ready, I'm ready."

"Hey Julie, are you ready to go visit Courtney?" I asked Julie.

"Oh yeah, totally! I'll go now!" Julie bolted from the trailer.

"START SCRAMBLING CHASE!"

"Got it! Just don't scream so loud next time, okay? Bye babe." Chase hung up.

"Want to play more Mario Kart?" Blaire asked me.

"Sure!" I got my DS and we both went head to head again.

**

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Courtney's POV

Julie suddenly burst into my cabin, panting as though she had just run a kilometer.

"Julie?"

"Courtney! Oh my God, how have you been?!" She came up to me and examined me. I was just in my regular clothes, nothing special.

"Oh, I'm fine." I wasn't about to tell her about the talk show I was on. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I decided to pay a visit. After all, Duncan seems to be coming a lot." I gasped. "Yes, I know about Duncan. I have good ties with Blaire, Tawny, and Chase. And I know about the talk show you were on; I watched it with Blaire and Tawny." She looked me in the eyes. "You'll be confronting Duncan about this, right?"

"Absolutely." I blurted before I could stop myself.

"Still, you're getting treated pretty nicely for being a captive and all. I should thank Chase for that." She looked around the room one last time. "Indoor plumbing and everything…anyway, don't tell Duncan I came here."

"Why should I?" I glared at her. I know she means well, but this is just too surprising and evil!

"Please Courtney? I don't want Duncan to lose focus because of me or vice versa. Please. I want to win, and so does he. If he doesn't know about me coming here, it'll be less on his mind. He'll be more focused on winning the million bucks. Isn't that what you want?" Julie looked at me worriedly.

"All right. I won't tell him."

"Thank you so much Courtney." And she left me.

**

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Duncan's POV

"Hey Princess." It was around 8 PM, and I managed to visit Princess.

"Duncan." She glared at me. Something's up. Normally, she'd say something more, maybe even run up and hug me,

"All right, what's wrong?" I sat down on her bed.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" She shoved a mini DVD player into my lap, and it was showing a talk show called TDA Aftermath. "Watch it, and get back to me later. I'm taking a shower." After I watched the 30 minute talk show, Princess was out of the shower and now in her silk nightgown. "Don't get any ideas Ogre."

"Look, I know why you're angry, and I'm sorry." I was kinda sorry. I mean, Trent went crazy, but I never knew of his real reason behind his nine obsession. It was just an observation, but I guess Gwen thought it was true.

"You shouldn't be telling ME you're sorry! What about Trent?!"

"That's not the only reason Gwen dumped him."

"Oh, it was definitely a factor! I can't believe you sabotaged them like this! You pushed both of them to the edge! You didn't see the footage; Gwen was crying about having Trent voted off!" Princess was now crying. There was only one thing to do now: kiss her. So I did, and the crying immediately stopped. She stopped trembling, and melted into the kiss. But then she pulled back. "DON'T EVEN DARE TRY GETTING OFF TOPIC DUNCAN! I just…"

"What? You thought that would happen to us one day?" She slowly nodded. "Well, it won't. You know why?" Aw crap. I have to become all mushy and junk. "Because I love you, okay? And nothing's going to change that." I pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks Duncan." She quietly sobbed into my shoulder.

"I'll leave you tonight, but don't think you'll be spared tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow night." I got up and left Courtney on her bed. The things I do for her sometimes…

* * *

Me: UGH! IT'S SO MUSHY AND FLUFFY! IT'S SO GROSS!!!!

Nikki: Right...anyway, we're coming at you LIVE from the TDA Aftermath stage with the campers who didn't make it to TDA (that means you too Courtney!), Geoff, Bridgette, Izzy, and Trent, along with Blaire, Tawny, Chase, and Julie! WAVE TO THE READERS!!!! *others nervously wave* I'm Nikki!

Me: That's right! And I'm Lane! So tell me Geoff and Bridgette, you have no more qualms, so are you two going to be doing this more often?

Geoff: Totally Lane!

Bridgette: Yeah, we wouldn't miss out on giving Chris a run for his money!

Julie: Lane, what were you saying about the mush and fluff?

Me: Oh, I don't like the fluffiness and mushiness of the last part of this chapter. It grosses me out!

Noah: But you wrote it.

Me: Yeah I did didn't I? Oops! Well, I was stumped for ideas, so I just threw that in there!

Courtney: You made me cry!

Me: Uh, Nikki, take over!

Nikki: Okay! So Trent, do you think you'll get back together with Gwen? I'm totally NOT on your team by the way. TEAM GWEN ALL THE WAY!!!

Trent: Um...I don't know. I really want to, but I understand if Gwen is still creeped out by me.

Me: Yeah, almost everyone here is on Team Trent and NOT Team Gwen! Imagine that! Personally, I am a Team Trent supporter. But EH.

Ezekiel: I don't get it eh. Am I supposed to say review NOW?

Noah: Yeah genius. Ezekiel was supposed to close this off, so review please. And by the way, I'm being payed to say check out Lane's new fanfic "Lab Rat". So check it out.

Me: Thank you Noah! That's right, so review please! *grumbling* Here's your 10 bucks Noah. *hands Noah a 10 dollar bill*

Noah: Thanks...hey, wait a minute, this is a AMERICAN bill! Where's my CANADIAN bill?!

Nikki: OH, YOU BETTER RUN LANE!!! 'Til next time everyone! WAVE TO THE READERS LITTLE MINIONS! *others wave nervously once more*


	25. Aftermath of the Aftermath

**A/N: **OMG GUYS! IT'S BEEN FOREVER! How has everyone been doing? I took a really long break from this fanfic didn't I?! Well, I've been kinda occupied with my new obsession Dollhouse! Y'all need to check this show out; it is unbelievably awesome! If you like high-paced action and moral conflict, this is the show for you! Okay, just type Dollhouse in on Wikipedia (I'm horrible at summarizing things) and you should go to the link for the TV series. It's available online, but only the last five episodes. The first five are no longer available online, unless you have special ways of getting the episodes. The show is blowing my mind! Okay, fangirl squeals over!

The writing may not be as good as you like (I know it's not to my standards), but just bear with me. I need to get back in the groove of writing. So I think you all know what the next challenge is, so just stay tuned. And this is a very short chapter yet again, so um...have fun! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

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Third Person POV

The two break days dragged on without a hitch. Except for the fact that Gwen was secretly beating herself up about helping to vote Trent off, Julie still being boggled about the dream she had and the talk show she witnessed the day before, Courtney and Duncan not talking to each other after she kinda-sorta forgave him for pushing Trent and Gwen's relationship to the breaking point (the night of the second break day, she didn't let him in and forced him out, regardless of cameras. Chase wiped the footage right before Chris came into the room to do a daily check-up.), then starting to get back on speaking terms—also known as kissing terms—come the morning of the third day. Tawny and Blaire saw the footage that showed Gwen was beating herself up over losing Trent, and warned Julie about this after breakfast while they were hanging out in the make-up trailer.

"You need to be careful." Blaire warned. She and Tawny were sitting while Julie was pacing.

"I'm not worried. Gwen got far in the competition after Trent was voted off." Julie callously brushed aside with a wave of her hand.

"But this time is different. Gwen helped in voting off Trent. You should know that."

"And you haven't SEEN how badly she's beating herself up. I mean, sobbing and screaming, writing a lot in her journal, of course, when no one is in the trailer. She's BEGGING to be voted off next." Tawny added.

"Don't say that! Gwen is a strong girl, and she wouldn't hurt herself like that! And she's my teammate!" Julie screamed, suddenly angry at Tawny for talking about Gwen behind her back. Julie was still very angry and stressed about the fact that all of her dreams were really glimpses into the pasts of her fellow contestants arranged by the Reality Court judge. "I—I'm sorry. I'm just a little stressed." Julie looked down, and looked at Tawny and Blaire again. "All better."

"We don't want to cause you too much stress. Maybe you should take a break and walk around, even run if you want. You should be socializing with the others." Blaire advised.

"Fine, fine." And Julie left the trailer.

**

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My POV

I can't believe I was kicked out like that! Tawny and Blaire have been doing that a lot lately, or maybe I'm just becoming my old self again. I can't have that happen! No, I have to help Gwen out of her rut! But how am I going to do that without revealing that I know about her deal with the Grips? Oh, maybe I should've switched teams! What am I going to do, what am I going to do?! I stumbled back and rubbed my head unconsciously, and it was then I realized I had bumped into someone and sent them to the ground. As my luck would have it, that someone was Heather.

"Watch where you're going Julie!" Heather yelled at me. Oh, if only she knew that I knew about her past…I offered a hand.

"Need help?"

"Not from you." Heather glared at me and got up from the asphalt on her own. That made me angry.

"Well, fine." I shrugged and stared walking past Heather, and she walked past me. "By the way, that black mark on the back of your head would be perfect for target practice with your scrunchies. Not that I would want to, but—" Heather's hands flew to the back of her head and she screamed, running for the showers. "All in a day's work." I grinned to myself and kept wandering the film lot.

**

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Courtney's POV

"Babe, where's breakfast? I'm starved." The imbecile! The utter nerve of Duncan to call out to me as though I were some…some…WENCH! I had breakfast for myself, but only for myself. It's Duncan's responsibility to get breakfast for himself, and I don't care how he does it. I set my breakfast, a simple piece of golden brown toast and scrambled eggs with a cup of orange juice, on the table across from my bed, the bed Duncan was making himself comfortable on. He had come back in the middle of night—again—and I guess we were back to normal. I was completely over Gwen and Trent's troubles; I'm not in the game—not yet.

"I hope you don't expect a response to your vulgarity."

"Ah come on babe, can't you spare some for me?" I started busying myself with eating my toast because if I turned to look at him, his shirtless body and childish grin would leave me with an empty stomach. I gulped down two bites of my toast.

"No. Leave before Chase—or worse, Chris—finds you."

"Princess, I'm okay with Chase."

"It doesn't matter! I don't trust him!" I turned around in my chair, now impervious to his body and grin.

"Well, that's too bad, because I do."

"Leave." I stood up, pointed to the door, and snarled.

"Nope." And he plopped down onto my bed! UGH!

"You…ogre!!! FORGET IT!" I sat back down and busied myself with my toast once more.

**

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Chris's POV

"Oh Chase…" I called to him in a sing-songy voice. The look on his face when he turned around in his chair was PRICELESS!

"Chris?"

"Guess what you, Chef, Blaire, and Tawny get to do for me today!"

"Ah shit. Do we have to?"

"You bet! The complex is all set up; you four just need to load in the food for the challenges, set the obstacles up, draw the finish line, raise the cells—"

"I get it man, I get it!" Chase angrily got up and started walking past me.

"And one last thing…place the two cast trailers on lockdown, around, I'd say, two in the morning-ish." Chase faced me.

"Are you out of your FUCKING MIND?! Have you been watching these tapes?! Gwen's been staying up all night for the past three nights! There's no WAY I'm going to be able to shut everything down without tipping her off!"

"Not if she's asleep dude."

"But she won't be—no fucking way. Do you realize how illegal that is?! I mean, we have no parental consent, not to mention—"

"Dude, dude, chill out! I thought you were all for torturing the contestants."

"To a certain extent! Jokes, insults, and occasional bodily harm are fun, but this is going a little off the deep end."

"All right, all right, just round up Tawny and Blaire and get over to the complex. Chef's waiting for you there."

"It'll just take a phone call." Chase whipped out his blue Juke, but I snatched it from his hands.

"Ah, ah, ah! No calling! You've got to warn them yourself." Chase snatched his cell phone out of my hand.

"Then I'm fucking CERTAIN I won't trust my phone with you. And with all of the fucking heavy lifting…fucking hell!" Chase kept muttering to himself as he left the surveillance room.

"Have fun!" I snickered and left to my cabin for a relaxing facial.

**

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Chase's POV

As soon as I was out of sight of Chris and made sure he left to his cabin, I called Tawny.

"Tawny, babe, we need to go and help Chris set up for the next challenge."

"What? Just me? What about Blaire?"

"She's coming too. It's a prison theme, so we're loading in disgusting food and all of this other stuff. You know the big complex that was already up when we arrived?"

"Yeah, it looked kinda like…a…prison…OH FUCK WHY DIDN'T I SEE IT?! I NEED TO WARN JULIE!"

"Tawny, babe, no, you and Blaire need to come ASAP. Chef's going to hunt us down if we don't get there to help him with the stuff. We're not supposed to be hurt by anyone while on the job, but you know Chef—and Chris. Warn Julie after we set everything up."

"Hurry babe. I'll see you soon." I hung up without saying goodbye and ran to the prison complex.

* * *

**My POV**

When I went back to the confessional to thank Tawny and Blaire for letting me clear my mind, I found them gone. However, there was a note on their table.

_Julie, Tawny and I are going to be gone for a while. You're probably already reading this, and we're gone—obviously. We need to set up the next challenge for Chris, and he's ordered Chef to hunt us down if we don't get to the spot for the next challenge on time. Tawny told me the theme was prison movies, so that means gross food and a prison break. We don't know much more than that, but we will as soon as we're done setting up the challenge for Chris. Just go back to your walking or sleeping or whatever you were doing before you found this note. Oh, and trash this note when you're done reading it. If Duncan comes in here and finds the note…you know what'll happen._

_-Blaire_

Ah crap. Now I have nothing to do! A prison break…hm, I think a little bit more exploring wouldn't hurt. A wicked grin broke out on my face as I came up with an idea to meet Blaire and Tawny at the prison complex they must be at. It can't be that hard to miss. I crumpled the note, trashed it in the trash can, and left the trailer, looking for the prison complex.

It didn't take me long. It was near the back of the film lot though, so it involved a lot of walking first to the front, then retracing my steps to the back of the film lot. No one suspected anything. Lately, the others, including my teammates, had been staying away from me. Was it something I said, something I did? Or maybe I've managed to stray from everyone else, against my Julie Rose personality that the Reality Court gave me. Not good.

I came across a looming grey building that I would associate with a prison. A quick glance around revealed no one in sight, and the front door was open, so I walked right in.

**

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Blaire's POV

"Finally!" Tawny breathed a sigh of relief. We had finally finished tested the cages to make sure they could be pulled up easily.

"I can't believe Chris has us doing all of this stuff. What happened to being prepared ahead of time?"

"Out the window, according to Chase. In fact, he says it's been out the window for a long time." Tawny looked out over the railing to the two tables full of disgusting food. "I feel sorry for the contestants. Two of them have to eat that shit tomorrow."

"Wouldn't you?" I turned to Tawny, looking at her face. She looked back at me, shock on her face.

"If I were offered enough money! You could die eating half of the stuff on those tables!" She pointed out to the tables.

"What is this stuff?" I heard a voice and looked down to the floor to see a girl looking at the two tables. Oh no, it can't be! Crap. The girl looked up at us, and I could see now that it was Julie. "Blaire! Tawny!" She waved to us.

"I don't get top billing?! What the hell?!" Tawny yelled, and I gave a sharp jab to her stomach with my elbow.

"We have to get her out of here. This place…has cameras."

"Chase told me they weren't on though."

"Chris is still at headquarters. He could've turned them on for all we know." We both dashed down to the ground floor and met up with Julie.

"Hey! So what is all of this? A part of the challenge tomorrow?" I took a glance around, looking for cameras and Chris, half hearing Julie's question. Thankfully, Tawny answered for me.

"Yeah. You get to choose one person from the Gaffers, and they get to choose someone from the Grips. Those two have to eat a mix of all of this food on the table. Be careful for two reasons. Number one; choose someone who has a very weak stomach so it'll be easier for you to win. Number two, I don't think you know this, but DJ and Chef are in an alliance!"

"WHAT?! AN ALLIANCE?!"

"Uh huh! Chef is trying to get DJ to be all tough and stuff."

"But I can do that easily! I made him pull the trailer up a few challenges back!"

"That's the same challenge where Chef forced him into his alliance." I added.

"No, I've got to get him out of it!"

"You can't. If DJ knows you know, it'll be devastating. If Chef knows, it'll be even worse. You're putting too much at stake."

"At least the team!"

"If they know, they'll vote him off. And you need all of the manpower you can get for any coming challenges. They only promise to get tougher."

"Why should I worry about DJ though?"

"Chef is having him help with the cooking. Tawny has a hunch that DJ could somehow mess something up with the cooking."

"But DJ's a…great…cook…oh crap!" Julie finally realized Tawny's point. She calmed herself down quickly. "Show me around here."

"All right!" Tawny grinned. "So this is the first part of the challenge. The second part is outside, and you have to go through this obstacle course to get to the boxcars of freedom. First team to get to them wins. If you win the food challenge, you get a golden shovel which you can use to dig underneath the prison walls."

"And when she says golden, she means a shovel painted gold." I added in case Julie was at all confused.

"The cheap bastard!" Julie exclaimed.

"As though we don't know that already." I looked around once more. "We ought to get you back to the film lot. Let's go." It was only a short walk to the exit, and we were soon outside and walking to the confessional trailer. We were back in the trailer, saying goodbye.

"So…" Julie trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"Everything's fine, right? I just go about trying to win and—" Julie sighed. "What I'm trying to say is…all of this tension, the competition, I think it's getting to me."

"It gets to everyone from time to time."

"I'm worried for Gwen. She's going to end up eliminating herself out of grief the way she's going."

"Then you make her see that she should stay in the competition. Trent would want that."

"Yeah, so he wouldn't see Gwen again!" Tawny butted in. I glared at her, and she looked down to the ground. "Sorry."

"I'll stop Gwen." Julie had her resolve back. "I have to!" Julie smiled before leaving Tawny and I in the trailer.

* * *

Me: And welcome back to the TDA Aftermath Stage! I know it's been a while, and we can't reveal too much about the future--

Nikki: Like how G--

Me: Oh no!!! No spoilers!

Noah: Or how D--

Me: Guys! Don't do this!

Geoff: Whoa! Let's just chill out!

Bridgette: Lane's right! We shouldn't be spoiling anything about the future for anyone!

Me: Thank you Bridgette. At least SOMEONE agrees with me. *glares at Nikki*

Nikki: Hey, I'm as upset as you are about what's coming up next, if not even more upset! She was one of my favorite contestants!

Katie: I can't believe it too!

Sadie: Oh! Neither can I! It was just SO devastating!

Katie: I know right?! SOOOO devastating!

Noah: The intelligence here has just plummeted to zero. Review please, orders from Lane.


	26. Karma, Karma, Karma

**A/N: **After the long wait, it's here! Chapter 26, Episode 7 of TDA! Whoo-hoo! There's going to be a lot of cut parts, but even then, this is my longest chapter yet! And it only promises to get longer from here. Again, I'm so sorry I haven't been updating lately, but I'm going through Dollhouse withdrawal. On the plus side, it was renewed! Happy dance time! I am personally set for the Fall TV season, with all of the shows I've been watching renewed for a second season. So as you can see, this called for me to go back into the TDI/A world, and you have a new chapter. There will be no more delays now that I have a reliable place to get my episodes from, so expect the updates to start picking up the pace again. More drama to come, so stay buckled in! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

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Chase's POV

"Dude, I told you to do it!" Chris yelled at me for the umpteenth time. He was trying to get me to give a bottle of water laced with sleeping pills to Gwen so she would fall asleep and I'd be able to seal the cast trailers without anyone noticing. I had just finished my dinner too, and it was 8 PM.

"Chris, this is dangerous. And Gwen might not even accept my offer!"

"Then make her accept it!" Chef yelled at me. He was standing by Chris, ever the unwilling slave.

"There's enough in there for one sip to keep her asleep until 8 AM. If she goes to bed at ten, we'll be good!" I looked at Chris, searching his face and his eyes for even the slightest bit of pity for Gwen and her guilt. I found none. I sighed.

"Then don't get me to do it. Have Tawny or Blaire give the water to Julie, and then have her give it to Gwen. If anyone can convince Gwen to do anything, it'll be Julie. Or it would have been Trent if she hadn't broken up with him." Chris ignored my implications.

"Awesome idea dude!" He threw the water bottle up in the air and caught it, grinning like a demented child. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the surveillance screens; I heard Chris leave, chuckling softly, and Chef leaving with him, as evidenced by the low rumble of curse words.

"I swear to God, that guy is going to get his just desserts one day…you hear me there karma?" I looked up, hoping for a sign that my request was heard. I don't expect much though.

* * *

**My POV**

"What's so special about this bottle of water?" I examined an Arrowhead bottle of water that Blaire gave me. We were gathered in the trailer for another late night gathering.

"Chris just gave it to us and said to give it to you to give to Gwen." Tawny laxly replied.

"But why?"

"Well, you guys don't get water there, right?" Blaire asked me, and sadly, she was right. The water that Chef gave us wasn't bottled; it could be tap water for all I know. I nodded in response, still thinking about any reason that Chris would want Gwen to get a bottle of water. "Then consider it one of Chris's moments of kindness. I know they're rare, even fake at times, but he does have his moments." I looked at the bottle once more.

"Are you sure it's not poisoned or something?"

"Chris has limits. He would—and could—do a lot of things, but intentionally try to kill a contestant, and a popular one at that? Nope, Chris cares about his paycheck too much."

"But he has damaged a lot of people. Spraying knockout gas in the bus, not to mention kidnapping Courtney, and all of those interns that were killed—"

"Those guys? Oh, they weren't killed, only wounded. He just told everyone they were dead to get more cred for himself."

"What about Chase?"

"Faulty planning on his part. He didn't really want Chase to die—I think—but he knew cameras were watching, so he acted callous and uncaring. But Chris had suspicions that someone saved Chase, and, well, you know what happened next."

"All of this."

"He doesn't like anyone stealing his spotlight."

"Do you want me to force Chris into telling us if the water's poisoned?" Tawny grinned, completely willing to go and fight Chris.

"As much as I would like that…no. Maybe some other time, we can all get together and fight Chris!" I joked. However, I think Tawny took me seriously—or as serious as she can be at times.

"I'll have my boxing gloves ready!" I got up and left to give Gwen the water, but not before hearing Blaire chide Tawny.

"What did I say about bringing those boxing gloves?!"

* * *

**Blaire's POV**

"All right, she's gone." I told Tawny. "But you still brought those boxing gloves?!"

"Well, duh! I need to practice my fighting skills somewhere, and what better dummy to use than a pretty boy host?"

"Yeah." I was now only half listening now. There were too many thoughts buzzing about in my head.

"What's wrong?" Tawny put her hands on her hips, eyebrow raised. "I know that look. That's your guilty look."

"You should be guilty too. I can't believe Chris would do that to Gwen just to enact his own torture on everyone else."

* * *

"_Girls! Blaire! Tawny! Open up!" Blaire and Tawny were playing Mario Kart head to head when Chris knocked on the trailer door._

"_Do we have to open it for HIM?" Tawny asked Blaire jokingly._

"_Yes, we do." Blaire then paused her game and went to open the trailer door. "Chris. What do you want?"_

"_Now that's no way to talk to your boss!" Blaire gave him a chiding look, which caused Chris to sigh. He had lost this battle. "See this water?" Chris waved an inconspicuous Arrowhead bottle of water in Blaire's face._

"_Yes, I see it, no need to wave it in my face."_

"_Ooo, water! CAN I HAVE SOME?!" Tawny scared both Blaire and Chris by screaming and then reaching out to the water bottle._

"_Ah, ah, ah!" Chris jerked the bottle just out of reach of Tawny's hands. "This is water that needs to get to Gwen."_

"_You want us to give a bottle of water to Gwen?" Blaire raised an eyebrow, unsure of Chris's sudden act of kindness—or so it seemed._

"_Yes, yes I do."_

"_What's in it?" Tawny tried reaching out to the bottle again._

"_Poison or drugs?" Blaire asked._

"_Tsk, tsk, tsk girls, you think so lowly of me."_

"_Because you stoop so low." Blaire simply responded._

"_Ouch!" Tawny giggled uncontrollably, and Blaire shut her up with an elbow jab to the stomach. "Sorry."Chris rolled his eyes._

"_Okay, you caught me. I'm getting Chef to seal up the cast trailers," This was a complete lie. Chase was sealing up the trailers, but he wasn't about to have Tawny attempt to kill him. "And to do that, Gwen needs to be asleep. Gwen has been staying up for the past three nights. So…"_

"_That water…is laced with sleeping pills." Blaire's eyebrows rose in shock. "ARE YOU NUTS?! YOU NEED PARENTAL CONSENT FOR THIS SORT OF THING!"_

"_Funny, Chase said the same thing…but do you think I care about what my interns think? They just do the work for me." Chris held the bottle out to Blaire and grinned sadistically._

"_You are so DAMN lucky I need this job."Blaire snatched the bottle out of his hand._

"_So what do we do?" Tawny asked._

"_Give the bottle to Julie and tell her to give it to Gwen. And don't tell Julie that the water is laced with sleeping pills. If you do, your jobs are on the line. And I have eyes in that trailer." Again, a complete lie. Blaire and Tawny knew this was a lie, but they decided to follow along with Chris's instructions nevertheless._

"_Fine." Blaire glared at Chris._

"_Bye girls!" Chris grinned and left the two girls to go back in the trailer. Only fifteen minutes later, Julie walked into the trailer to talk with Blaire and Tawny once more. _

* * *

My friend's look changed from peppy to apologetic. "Okay, I know you're upset, but just think of it this way: Gwen needs sleep, and Chris is giving it to her."

I was still suspicious. "But Chris never has the well-being of the campers in mind. It's just not—" I let out a sigh. "In his character. I hope Julie helps Gwen out. The way Gwen's going, I wouldn't be surprised if she caused the downfall of her own team."

"Like that'll ever happen! Gwen's focused on the game, don't worry. This Trent business is all behind her now."

* * *

**Gwen's POV**

Today—and the past three days—have been awful. In hindsight, breaking up with Trent probably wasn't the best idea. Oh, who am I kidding? I've been thinking that for the past three days! I need to make it up to him somehow; I hope he'll forgive me. I was the last one up (besides Julie). Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, and Beth were all asleep, and there was only one lone light on.

"Are you going to bed soon?" Julie was sitting on my top bunk. The bottom one was empty, save my luggage, ever since Bridgette left.

"I don't think so…I have some writing to do." I lied to her. The last thing I needed was attention from her.

"Oh. Well, it's 10 PM. It's a challenge day tomorrow, and we'll need all of the rest we can get for tomorrow's challenge."

"Right. I'll be fine." What does she want?

"Well, I'm going to be going to bed soon. Have my water." She put a bottle of water on my bed, and I picked it up and weighed it. Doesn't look suspicious…wait; we're on the same team. Why would she want to sabotage me?

"Are you sure?" I looked her in the eyes, but all I could see was genuine truthfulness.

"Yup! Besides, you don't look too good." I guess I wasn't exactly the picture of beauty…"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I offend you?"

"Um…no. I'll be fine Julie. Really."

"Okay…good night." She climbed down the ladder to my top bunk and walked across the trailer and walked up the ladder to her own top bunk. "Good night." She called from her bed and turned out the light. I turned on my flashlight and sat under my blanket, thinking. I opened the water Julie gave me and took a sip. It didn't taste funny, so she didn't poison me. There's no way she would've anyway; I've been getting a little…too…paranoid…I felt myself slip away, and I turned off my flashlight before I fell asleep.

* * *

**Chase's POV**

I can't believe Chris is making me do this. He should be doing this himself, but what does he say? 'I need my beauty sleep, dude'. Beauty sleep my ass. God, and because of him, I'm out at three in the morning sealing up the windows of the cast trailers. It wasn't hard; I just had to make sure that the windows were closed and locked from the inside. For both trailers, the windows were open, so all I had to do was close them and make sure they were locked from the inside. Okay, maybe that's easier said than done. The only way to do that is to go into the trailers. And who knows who's a light sleeper among them?

I crept into the girls' trailer first. Girls are usually much heavier sleepers; Blaire is one of them, Tawny told me (she's an early riser). I knew Gwen was knocked out (Julie keeps her promises), and the rest of the girls were pretty heavy sleepers. Lindsay was talking in her sleep (something about winning a gymnastics tournament; as though she were giving herself a pep talk), Leshawna was snoring, as was Beth, and surprisingly, Heather. I snickered in my head when I heard her snore. God, I should've brought my recorder and record them snoring. Tawny would get a kick out of it. No, I have a job to do. I crept to the window and quietly closed the window, then locked it. Too easy. I did the same to the three other windows in the room, and locked the door on the inside. I crept out of the trailer and closed the door.

The guys were surprisingly heavy sleepers as well. Justin strangely had his hands out, and they looked like Tawny's after a manicure. Oh, no wonder, the guy is a model. Owen, Duncan, and Harold were snoring, and Owen's snores in particular were grating. Harold's were no better, but Owen's were horrible. I managed to lock everything up, and left the trailer without a hitch.

* * *

**Chef "Master Chief" Hatchet's POV**

My alarm buzzed. I slammed down on it with a loud thump, but what did I care who woke up due to my slam? I glanced at the time; 5 AM. Time to go wake up DJ. I got dressed in my chef clothes; Chris stressed that I had to look like a chef all of the time, but I made him let me wear my uniform from the Navy from time to time. I'm still bitter about having to wear that pink dress for his award ceremonies, and there's going to be another one tonight. Crap.

I knew that Chase had locked the trailers from the inside, so getting in was no problem; I just had to open the door. I crept to DJ's bed, all the while wanting to punch tubby boy and scrawny nerd because of their snoring.

"DJ, wake up!" I shoved him, and he was up.

"Chef?!" He screamed, and soon kept his mouth shut. None of the guys woke up though. "What are you doing here?"

"Get your ass down here and get dressed!" I furiously whispered to him. He jumped off his bunk.

"Can you—look away?"

"We're both guys. So get your ass DRESSED!" He quickly complied. Intimidation always worked with guys like him. I forced him outside and closed the trailer door. "Okay boy, now you're going to train like a man! And hup-two, three, four—YOU'RE NOT RUNNING! START RUNNING! I WANT TO SEE THE SWEAT POUR FROM YOUR ARMPITS!"

"Gross!" DJ didn't run. What does it take?!

"START RUNNING!" DJ let out a girlish scream and started running. I really need to help him with that scream.

* * *

**Chris's POV**

At 8:30 AM on the spot, I sounded my air horn in between the two cast trailers. I couldn't be happier. Today was going to be one of my personal favorites, the prison break. The set was prepared, because I checked just before coming here to make sure Tawny, Blaire, Chase, or Chef didn't follow my words. Not only that, Chase reported back to me that the cast trailers were locked down, so they're going to have a hard time getting out of their trailers now! Ah man, I LOVE my job! I can only assume that Julie was able to pass the water to Gwen, so she should be waking up just now. I brushed my police uniform, courtesy of the costume department, and adjusted my police cap to make sure it didn't mess up my beautiful hair. Aw man, now I'm going to have hat hair! Crap! As long as it's for the torture of the cast…might as well put a sadistic grin on my face.

* * *

**Third Person POV**

Duncan immediately woke up to the sound of the air horn. He went to bed around midnight, so he woke up with a jolt—by bumping his head on the bottom of the top bunk. He silently cursed his fear of heights and the bottom of the top bunk as he rubbed his sore head. The horn also caused Harold to stir in his sleep and slowly wake him up, and Owen to open his eyes and rub the crust out of them. DJ was already gone at this point and Justin was relaxing with a facial and a small fan perched on the bottom of the bunk above him drying his nails, fully awake.

Duncan was up and running for the showers, because although there was a small shower in the trailer, it was out of order, courtesy of Chris. But the fact that Chris committed this deed was unknown to the guys. "Who has dibs? I call it!" Duncan ran to the trailer door and tried to open it, but the handle wouldn't budge. He glanced at the relaxing Justin. "Hey, a little help?"

"This is day 12 of my manicure! To risk anymore cuticle damage would be madness!" Duncan scoffed. He didn't even know what any of it meant, but it sounded girly to him.

"Dudes, I got this." Owen stated matter of fact-ly as he made his way for the door. Harold was now fully awake and standing by Justin. Clothed in his orange pajamas and pink bunny slippers, Harold could already sense Owen having a gas attack.

"Uh oh."

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Rule number one: do not wake Owen's beast within first thing in the morning." Harold matter-of-factly commented. Blaire and Tawny were in the trailer, and they both nodded in agreement, Blaire adding an eyeroll.

* * *

"Stand back." Duncan stepped aside at Owen's command, and Owen started to try to get the door to open. Justin was now up, but stayed next to Duncan and Harold, who were both bracing themselves for Owen's gas attack. "EEERRRAAAGH, COME ON!!!"

"Owen, we had cowboy beans last night! You're seriously risking a toxic gas leak!" Harold hid the lower part of his face in his pajama shirt once more.

"Is that all I am to you?! Some kind of human fart machine?!" Owen yelled, ready to blow up. Duncan immediately tried to correct Harold's mistake of telling the truth.

"Ah, we just value our lives is all, alright big guy?" He gave a fake smile, but Owen interpreted it as the real thing.

"Aw, I love you guys." Owen took the other three, Duncan included in that three, into a bear hug. Needless to say, the only one who really enjoyed that hug was Owen. "And I promise I'll never, ever throw another morning fart—" A fart. "Starting now." Another fart. "I mean…now!" Then Owen let out a loud, noxious fart that had the whole trailer filled with Owen's noxious fumes.

Outside, Chris saw a pillar of green smoke rise out of the guy's trailer, and although his initial reaction was being grossed out, he couldn't help but laugh his ass off.

"I feel so SORRY for the guys in there right now! Or I would if I get paid to, which I don't!" He winked at the camera crew, and most of them rolled their eyes. Camera guy 2, who just so happened to be one of Chase's best friends Gordon, only glared coldly at Chris. Ever since they had started shooting, in their down time, Chris and Gordon played pranks on one another. They were harmless for now, but Gordon had his own personal plan to start making the pranks heinous, worthy of an Oscar. Although he was coldly glaring now, on the inside, he was deviously smiling.

* * *

**My POV**

I startled myself awake to the sound of an air horn. I shot up when Leshawna screamed after a loud thump, which was her bumping her head on the bottom of Izzy's empty bunk. Lindsay jumped out of her top bunk with surprising grace and ran for the door. Beth was slowly starting to wake up, and Gwen and Heather were up walking about the trailer.

"Morning everyone!" I hopped off my top bunk and gave a genuine smile.

"Oh shut it!" Heather spat.

"I'm still a bit tired." Gwen drew out. It must be that water I gave her last night.

"Sorry girl," Leshawna put a hand on my shoulder. "But we don't need fake pep this early in the morning."

"But it's only 8:30." I pointed to my digital wristwatch. Leshawna and Beth took a seat at Bridgette's former bunk, Gwen's luggage behind them.

"I need to take my shower!" Lindsay whined as she kept pulling on the door. How come she couldn't open the door?

"Lindsay? Do you need help?"

"The door won't open!"

"Have you been pulling at the door?" Lindsay nodded, and I heard a sharp slap.

"Lindsay, you're supposed to TURN the handle and PUSH the door OPEN!" Heather yelled.

"Oh, RIGHT!!!" Lindsay turned the handle, but the door didn't open. "Uh, Heather, it won't open."

"Really?" I asked before Heather could get an insult in. I watched Heather walk to one of the windows, and then I walked up to the door and tried to open it. Surprisingly, Lindsay was right; the door wouldn't open. "Huh." I stepped away. "Well, it seems we've been locked in. Any ideas?" Lindsay attempted to try to open the door again, and I didn't stop her.

"They've gotta open the door, right? I have claustrophobia!" Wow, I just learned something new today about Gwen.

"Oh boo hoo, this trailer is as tight as the space between Lindsay's ears." Heather pressed against one of the windows, only to find that it wouldn't budge.

"Aw, thank you!" Lindsay replied, and I face palmed myself.

"Up there!" I looked up to where Gwen was looking. It was an air vent. Never tried crawling through an air vent before, but there's a first time for everything. "Maybe one of us can squeeze through!" Heather came to the rest of us (we were all standing and looking up at the air vent), and Gwen got this look on her face—she had a brilliant idea.

"What?" Heather asked, knowing the look was directed to her.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Ever since the whole awful Trent thing went down, I've just been waiting for karma to bite me in the ass, but what could I do? He was my weakeness, my Achilles Heel! We all have one; luckily, Heather has a whole bunch of useful ones." Gwen started to count them off on her fingers. "Glittery objects, new hair products, shameless flattery." She grinned at the last one.

* * *

"You can get out!" I added.

"Excuse me?" Heather asked me, a venomous look in my direction.

"Of course! Only the toothpickiest of us is going to fit through that vent! I'm talking MODEL THIN! So surely the most athletic of us would want to show off her NATURAL sleekness!" There's no WAY Heather is going to buy this! But then again, Gwen was kinda convincing.

"For once, I agree with you. I'll do it." And Heather bought it! Whoa!

"Sometimes I really wish I was one of the guys." Leshawna commented to Lindsay and Beth, but Heather and Gwen didn't notice this.

"I'll give you a boost up Heather." I was praying that someone would unlock the door, because by now, I had figured Chris had something to do with this.

"Hey girls!" Sure enough, the door opened, and Chris was leaning in with a devious smile on his face. "Time to come out!"

"Oh thank God!" Heather spat.

"Thank you so much man!" Gwen ran out of the trailer.

"Thanks Chip!" Lindsay ran out of the trailer.

"Chip, Kyle, what's next for this girl?!" Chris stepped aside to let Heather, Leshawna, and Beth go. Chris was about to walk off, but I decided to stop him.

"Chris, don't pull this crap on us ever again."

"But it was fun!" I gave him a glare. "Fine…" He pouted, and I knew he didn't mean what he said, but I let him go. He left, and I brushed off my white with gold dots camisole and dark blue running short shorts before stepping out of the trailer, only to hear a scream and see Duncan, Owen, Justin, and Harold in a pile in front of the rest of the girls. But where's DJ? Then I remembered that he was probably with Chef. The others have to know about this sooner or later. Chris walked up to the rest of us, and then I realized what he was wearing—a police uniform. "Hope you all enjoyed your first taste of the gulag!"

"Gulag?! I didn't get any gulag!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"Well then prepare for it to get a WHOLE lot worse, because today is PRISON FLICK DAY!" A collective groan sounded from the Killer Grips.

"You say that like it's a good thing." I sarcastically retorted.

"Correct Julie! Well, for your team it is!"

"Lovely! At least we've got the only actual ex-con on our team." Heather glanced at Duncan.

"It was only juvenile detention; don't get too excited." Although I'm pretty sure he knew we could win the challenge today.

"Ah, prison. The confinement! The claustrophobia!" No doubt Chris mentioned that to scare Gwen. "The vile, nasty food!" We already HAVE vile and nasty food, courtesy of Chef! Well, that's for the other cast mates; I've got Tawny and Blaire. "And you're always looking over your shoulder 'cause Mr. Killer Dude wants to cut ya for taking the last tater tot! And no matter how hard you try, digging out spoonfuls of dirt year after year, THERE'S NO ESCAPE! Unless you get voted off, of course."

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Talk about overkill. This place is plenty prison-like already. Not that I'm complaining; I mean, I should probably be locked up for the ladies' sake anyways." Harold stated as if it were common fact. Of course, Tawny was laughing her ass off at Harold's error.

* * *

Chris looked over all of us one last time. "So get dressed, eat breakkie, but…eh, go and eat breakkie. See you at the prison set in…one hour!" And Chris left us.

"But that's not enough time for me to take my shower!" Lindsay cried out in despair.

"Oh boo hoo, like I care." Heather walked back into the trailer to get changed, and I followed suit.

Today, I went to eat Chef's slop instead. Going to Tawny and Blaire just seemed like too big of a risk at the time. At the table, I spotted DJ sitting down and took a seat across from him. Time to do some interrogating.

"Hi DJ." I smiled as politely as I could, hiding my intentions.

"Hi Julie! How was your morning?"

"Oh fine, considering that Chris locked us in our trailers before telling us about our challenge. By the way, I didn't see you there with the guys." He gulped down his food loudly, and I took another bite of the slop I was currently eating. "So, where were you?"

"Uh…" His voice was getting high-pitched. "Nowhere important…"

"Really? Because I could've SWORN I heard yelling outside last night. It sounded a lot like…Chef." I focused on my food and ate it, letting my words seep into his conscience. "Why did you do it? I wouldn't go so far as saying it's illegal, but I have to say—"

"Stop, okay? Yeah, but Chef forced me into it! You won't tell the others, will you?" I looked up at him, and smiled.

"Of course not. I suppose with all of the better treatment you've been getting, you're set to go far. Keep it that way, and don't let the guilt get to your head. From one teammate to another. Bye DJ." I finished the last of my food and went to deposit the plate by the counter. Everyone seemed to start finishing their food and leaving the tent when I was, and soon, I found DJ next to me.

"How did you find out?"

"I have friends in places too. You probably already know about the challenge thanks to Chef. Keep quiet about my secret, I'll keep quiet about yours, and WE won't have any problems."

"Yeah. Thanks Julie." DJ started walking faster, and I soon saw why.

"What were you just talking about with DJ?" Oh, the Queen Bitch herself, Heather.

"Exchanging trade secrets." I started setting up my lie. Heather quirked an eyebrow. "About cooking. He's a great cook, you know. He gave me a few pointers to improve my cooking skills." That was only a quarter true. He was a great cook, but I can't cook for my life, and we weren't just talking about cooking tips.

"You cook?"

"Well, yeah. Don't you?"

"No, the servants we have do it for us."

"It's a lot of fun. You should really try it sometime." Again, a lie. I hated cooking with my mom, partly because I couldn't chop vegetables correctly, or let something brown on the skillet for too long, the problem was always me. "Hey, we're here!" I entered the prison complex. Just as I remembered it from yesterday, except the food on the tables was gone, and there was a table with a white sheet draped over it, clearly hiding something. Chris was already waiting for us.

"Hey campers!"

"Correction, we're not at a summer camp anymore." Heather shot back.

"But you'll soon wish you were!"

"I've been wishing that since I GOT here." I glared at Chris. Everyone else soon filed into the prison complex.

"Okay! Grips to my left, Gaffers to my right!" He grinned at both teams as we grouped in our positions. "Lockdown people! Let's get this challenge started! Teams, take a prisoner from the competition! And Chef…I mean, Warden, lock 'em up!"

* * *

**Justin's POV**

After Chris gave us our directions, I immediately called up the rest of my bumbling idiot teammates to huddle.

"It's in the bag. Gwen OWES us!" She did after having Trent throw our challenges!

"But what if walking her up means she's out of the challenge though?" Beth asked. Stupid, stupid, does she not see the point here?!

"But we can't know remember? We need this bad!" Owen argued—in my favor! At least someone agrees with me!

"Let's flip a coin! Heads we win, tails victory is ours!" Lindsay pulled out a coin and offered to us. God, I really, REALLY, need to get back at Trent when I see him. Putting me on a team with a ditz, a nerd, and a fart machine isn't working out too well for me. But…they're all idiots, so might as well use them until the teams are disbanded.

**

* * *

**

Gwen's POV

"Remember when Lindsay locked herself in the bathroom?" Heather asked me, and as much as I don't like to agree with her, I remembered it with fondness. Julie, strangely, wasn't contributing much to our short discussion. Not even a few words of agreement, although she did seem to recall that same memory with disdain.

"She lost it! Drank everyone's shampoos in case any of them were "magic potions" and then barfed on herself!"

"She'll crack for sure." Duncan added.

"Choices, Gaffers!" Chris called us first. Must be because we're the winning team.

"Lindsay!" Heather sneered.

"YAY I WIN!!!" Lindsay cheered, and I suppressed a loud burst of laughter.

"Grips! Now remember, this is an important choice, especially for perennial losers like yourselves." Chris called them.

"Oh, we shouldn't have any trouble beating Gwen." Beth proclaimed and then winked in my direction. Hopefully no one saw that. But when did she get so mean? I gulped in terror. I'm going to have to throw the challenge!

"Today's first game is…THE PRISON CHOW-LANGE!" Chris pulled off the white sheet to reveal a cart full of gross, fly infested food. "Each team of prison chefs whips up the FOULEST, NASTIEST, most barf inducing slop this side of Alcatraz! Gwen and Lindsay HAVE to stomach as much as they can. Last one to power hurl wins!"

Chef guided me to my cell first, and then went for Lindsay.

"I-I can't! I'm innocent I tell you, innocent!" Nevertheless, Lindsay went into the cage, and Chef promptly slammed the cell door.

"That's what they all say." Chris drew out, clearly getting a kick out of this.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"I know I owe the Grips because of Trent's cheating, but even if we forget Lindsay's shampoo incident, last night, she nearly hurled because LeShawna's gum smelled too "minty fresh". How am I going to puke before that?!" Gwen was panicking, and Tawny was shocked that someone could hurl at the smell of a piece of gum. Blaire wasn't surprised; she knew people who HAD barfed at the smell of minty gum.

* * *

"Gross! Oh no!" Lindsay was about ready to barf once she saw the food set up on her team's table, which just so happened to be the preparation stage for MY food!

"The reward better be worth it." I commented out loud.

"Have I ever let you down? Wait, scratch that…anyway, the winning team gets THIS!" Chris held up a gold shovel, though considering his budget, it was probably a shovel painted gold.

"What are we supposed to do with a shovel?" Lindsay asked, and for once, I agreed with her. What WERE we supposed to do with a shovel? Not exactly helping my motivation to win.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Everybody knows that more wars have been won with a shovel than a sword. Give a man a hole and what does he have? Nothing. But give a man a shovel and he can dig a hole to contain the nothing." Both Blaire and Tawny were highly doubtful of Harold's statement, but lately, Harold had been spewing crap in the Confession Cam, so they just took it as it was and didn't even laugh at his miserable brain spews; their voices were starting to go a little from laughing so much.

* * *

"Prisoners ready, AND…CULLINATE! Duncan goes right for the roaches, Harold tops it off with some slimy anchovies paste, and oh! Here come the horse lips!" I wasn't looking at my team, only at the other team because they were preparing my food, but I still heard my team and Chris.

"Where do you even GET these things?!" I heard Leshawna ask.

"They're obviously imported GOSH!" I heard Harold argue back.

**

* * *

**

My POV

I was mainly lying back and watching my other teammates prepare the food for Lindsay. Once Duncan, Harold, and Leshawna were gone, DJ came up to the bowl of nasty prison food.

"How's a self-respecting chef supposed to serve THAT?" He then pulled out a container of something, which I could only assume was salt, something to enhance the flavor of the food. I couldn't let him do that! He could make the other team win!

"DJ!!!" I ran up to him. "What the fuck are you DOING?!"

"Adding my Mama's spice! How am I supposed to serve that to Lindsay?!" I was so close to face-palming myself in front of DJ.

"DJ, the point is to make the food taste gross for the other team, not to make it taste good so you feel better about yourself! If you don't want me to smash that spice to the ground, you won't add it and I'll serve the bowl to Lindsay. Don't try to do this ever again!" DJ sadly backed away, and I added a few more horse lips into the mix. Then I heard Chris announce that time was up for making the food. Harold came to the other side of the table while Chris was talking.

"Let me give the food to Lindsay." I've never liked him ever since he got Courtney kicked off, so why he wanted to give the food to Lindsay I didn't know and was skeptical of him.

"Why?"

"Because I can gross her out by telling her exactly what's in it. If she hears how gross it sounds, she might barf before she eats the food at all." I had this idea in my head, but Harold was the only one who knew how to describe the food well enough to gross Lindsay out to that extreme.

"All right. Even if you don't succeed, we have this challenge in the bag." I grinned and slid the bowl to him.

"Feeling queasy?" Justin was in front of Gwen with a green bowl of…oh, I don't even think I want to know.

"We have the braised horse lips with the goat brains fricassee and the fish gut reduction, topped off, of course, with some toenail clippings. Bon appétit." Harold presented our bowl to Lindsay perfectly, worthy of barfing on her part.

"Horse lips are low-fat and low-carb…right?" Lindsay dumbly asked, looking pretty freaked out by the bowl. It's working…and we had this in the bag—definitely!

"Are you maggots READY?! One minute to down that chow! And…dig in!" Chris grinned to Lindsay and Gwen, and Gwen immediately started eating the food.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"I was imagining every horrifying barf-worthy thing I could. Drinking the janitor's mop water, the time my brother puked on my neck on the tilt-a-whirl, when I was babysitting, and the dog ate the kid's diapers, and then licked my face! But nothing was working!" Gwen cried out in anguish. Blaire, for one, was completely grossed out by the things that Gwen was thinking of, and Tawny yawned. She had done--and heard of--much more disgusting stuff than what Gwen was ranting about.

"I wouldn't want to be in Lindsay or Gwen's positions. However, I could've stomached that food just fine." Julie leaned back in the chair, and then sat up. "Wait, why did they pick Gwen? They would've fared much better with DJ, unless...hm, something not right here..."

* * *

Lindsay took a bite, and she immediately gagged. However, she didn't puke just yet for some reason. Another bite, and she wasn't puking! Then I saw Gwen cough up a retainer. Retainers weren't a part of the food items to use…

"Thanks! My dad would've killed me!" I saw Beth pick up her retainer, and without even cleaning it, she put it in her mouth! Doesn't the girl know Hygiene 101?! However, I was happy for this, because Lindsay saw Beth do this and immediately puked. The bad part was that it was headed right for Gwen.

"GWEN!! DUCK!!" She didn't question me and did what I said. The puke went all the way to a shadowy corner of the complex, and I could make out a figure standing there. I later learned that this was Chef.

"Gwen keeps it down for the Screaming Gaffers and wins the reward!" Chris grinned, and I cheered. Duh, we won! "Ah, don't worry Gwen. You and the Gaffers have the golden shovel. They'll be thanking you in the elimination challenge…"

"Thanks Gwen! So much for our deal!" Lindsay told Gwen. Deal? No way…my horrible prediction's coming true! Gwen is trying to eliminate herself! I caught up to Heather, who was now talking to Gwen.

"What were you and Lindsay just talking about?"

"The weather, windy and cold with an 80% chance of barf. Thanks for telling me to duck Julie."

"No problem! Just doing my best to look after everyone!" I smiled.

"Well, so am I!" Heather exclaimed.

"You are?" Gwen asked.

"You are up to something, and I am finding out what!" Heather huffed, and Gwen walked away.

"I don't need this."

"Heather…what do you think Gwen's up to?" I calmly asked her. "Uh…come on. Let's start walking."

**

* * *

**

DJ's POV

After the challenge was over, I ran to the corner of the prison set to meet Chef. I had a lot of talking to do with him, but I wasn't going to rat out Julie. She's too nice!

"Chef, did you see that?!"

"YOU'VE LEARNED NOTHING!!! YOU WANTED TO MAKE THE FOOD TASTE GOOD?! IF IT WEREN'T FOR JULIE CATCHING YOUR MISTAKE, YOU COULD'VE BLOWN IT FOR THE WHOLE TEAM!!!"

"Oh wow…" I didn't realize I almost messed up that badly!

"I was once like you. Young, weird, kind of ugly, but you've got a gift. Now hone it! Don't let it go to waste…like I did." He sniffed a little bit, then snapped right back into mean mode. "Meet me in the kitchen after the challenge. You're on permanent KP duty soldier." He stalked off into the shadows, and I ran out of the set. I'm going to have to step it up for my team!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Who knew Chef was such a softie? But I can't argue with the man; I've got a gift." DJ held up the container of his mother's spice. "More spice. I love my mama."

"DJ, mind if I get some of that spice?" Blaire asked him.

"Sure." Blaire held out a small cylindrical canister, and DJ willingly poured some into the canister.

"Thanks DJ." Blaire smiled as DJ left the trailer. Once he was gone, she looked at the spice, then at Tawny. "We should get this over to Gordon. If anyone can figure out what's in this, he can."

"What, you think it's laced with something?"

"Just maybe..."

**

* * *

**

My POV

"Why would you care? You're the one who helped her in the first season!" I couldn't take anymore of Heather's crap. I change sides, she should know!

"Do you think Gwen is throwing the challenge?" She stopped seething.

"You think she's throwing the challenge?!" Time to switch into back-stabbing bitch mode. Sorry Gwen, but no one ruins this team's chances of being winners.

"I heard what Lindsay told her. Lindsay was upset that Gwen broke their "deal". I'm betting anything that the Grips have her ball and chain, wanting her to throw the challenge so they can win. I'm betting that this has something to do with Trent."

"Gwen's ex?"

"How'd you know?"

"I have money! I can hire anyone to get any piece of information I want!"

"Chris?"

"Oh, not that bastard. No, someone else who hates Chris just as much as I do." This information was useful, and it went into my brain. I'd have to ask Tawny and Blaire about it later.  
Both teams were now waiting outside, and there were two laundry carts waiting for us, and I looked out to what looked like an obstacle course, deadlier the one Chef gave us back on Wawanakwa.

"Elimination challenge, here we go! No getting out of free jail cards here people! This…is Escape from Total Drama Pen!" Pen, of course, meaning penitentiary, fancy talk for prison. Basically, our challenge was a prison break. "Each team must hop in their laundry carts while one member pushes through the obstacle course to freedom! When you reach the wall, get digging! First team to reach the boxcar to freedom wins immunity! Convicts, select a pusher!"

"I'll do it!" DJ boldly proclaimed.

"You sure you can handle the pressure?" Gwen was now trying to psych DJ out, and I didn't stop her. The only way I could have Gwen gone was if she blew this for us, and this would definitely make her look bad in everyone's eyes. As much as I wanted to interfere and stop this from happening, I let it go. She needed a break from this place, and maybe even try to get back together with Trent. That would only happen if she were eliminated. "Everything is riding on this! But, if you like being the one who could lose us the whole thing…"

"Huh?!" Heather didn't see Gwen's trick and glared at DJ.

"I should probably lie down." DJ dove into the laundry basket.

"It's okay DJ. I'll do it." I then saw Gwen wink in the Grips' direction.

"The girl is seriously sketchy. I, for one, refuse to trust her." I heard Heather behind me.

"I trust ANYONE more than I trust you! Now get up in that cart and SHUT IT Miss Sourpuss-I'm-a-vote-you-off-next." Leshawna stalked away.

"Seriously Heather, shut it." Duncan added. When did he choose sides? Oh wait, maybe that was back from the challenge he was eliminated from last season…

"You don't trust her, right?" Heather whispered from behind me.

"No, I don't. And I know she's lying to us right now."

"WHAT?! THEN…" I tried to quiet her down.

"Sssshhhh!"

"Then why didn't you stop her?! You're still on her side! I knew it!"

"You're not seeing it. I thought you would. If she loses this challenge for us, we're up for elimination. And do you know where my vote is going?"

"What makes you so sure? Everyone else wants ME gone!"

"She's probably going to throw this challenge in more ways than one. She makes herself look bad, she's gone. And if that doesn't happen, everyone else trusts me. She'll be gone tonight one way or the other."

**

* * *

**

Gwen's POV

Perfect! Everything is going perfectly! Just throw this challenge and pray that the others will vote Heather off, and I'll be okay!

"This is it teams! On your marks…get set…ESCAPE!" I started pushing as hard as I could, my winning side kicking in. I was about halfway through the course when I looked back and saw the Grips still far away. Oh no! I have to stop and let them catch up and eventually pass me! I stopped pushing the cart.

"Is there a problem?" Heather glared at me, and surprisingly, Julie came to her support.

"Gwen, I really do want to win. So um…yeah. Let's get pushing?" She weakly punched her fist into the air. Then the Grips passed us, thankfully.

"I demand an explanation! Why have we stopped?!" Heather demanded, and I came up with a brilliant idea.

"Augh! Ooo! Cramps! Cramps, AUUGH!!" I started hopping on one foot and clutched my left thigh, hoping she'd buy it.

"Were they talking about Trent? The guy you were SO over? The same guy who happened to get voted OFF last time?! Coincidence, or did you and the Grips cut a deal?" She had this figured out? How?!

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Oh, I give you serious props for the nefarious scheme. But if it's true, YOU are a goner."

"I am cramping up, I swear!"

"DJ!" Julie suddenly cried out. He poked his head out of the laundry cart. "Now's your time to shine. Get pushing!"

"Huh, why?!" DJ cravenly asked. Come on Julie, fail, fail! There's no way she saw this too!

"Gwen's cramping up, and we need to win this challenge! SO GET UP AND START PUSHING THIS CART!" She was pissed now. There's no way I can blow my cover now!

"Yes ma'am!" DJ immediately hopped out.

"Gwen, get in here! We've got a challenge to win." I grudgingly got into the cart, and DJ started pushing us with almost no trouble at all. We arrived at a red X painted on the ground.

"Someone's dirt is in my hole, and I'm gonna dig it out!" She took the shovel and started digging at a speed I had never seen before.

"Leshawna! You'll hurt yourself!" I cried out as I got out of the cart.

"Hm…would it kill you to offer a little encouragement? Like someone who wants to WIN might do?!"

"Sue me for caring about the well-being of my teammates!"

"Leshawna's getting really far! Come on!" Julie yelled at us and jumped down the hole.

"Let's go, Gwen." Heather sneered as she jumped down the hole. I had no choice but to follow.

**

* * *

**

Heather's POV

"Yeah! All right! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Harold cheered on Leshawna, and as annoying as he was, he was right.

"I'm really starting to like our chances!" We were going to win, and even though Julie might want her gone, I could always manipulate Gwen if she gets too vulnerable. Always keep your enemies closer.

"Ah! My claustrophobia! The walls! They're closing in! I'm like a caged animal man, I can't take another second—AAAAHHHH!!!" Gwen screamed and ran to Leshawna, took her shovel, and smashed it over Harold's head! No! Our shovel! We were silent for a moment.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

Harold now had a bandaged bump on his head from where Gwen smashed the shovel on him. "Classic prison madness. And that shovel thing? Heck, everyone knows first day of prison, break something over some big dude's back, then nobody messes with you. I'm kinda scared of Gwen now--and kind of attracted to her. Don't tell Leshawna--or Heather--o-or Gwen!"

"I am seriously not liking Gwen." Julie crossed her arms. "Really, first she convinces DJ to not have him push us when he should CLEARLY be doing the pushing, and then she breaks the shovel over Harold, and ruins our chances of winning! Seriously! What the hell?!"

* * *

"Team, we're the Screaming Gaffers! And we're going to win even if we have to dig with our bare hands!" DJ tried to give us a pep talk. However, I didn't like our chances now. "Even if we have to eat our way out!" DJ held up a container of something, no clue what it was, and frankly, I could care less.

"Danger boy, Toothpick, Soul Patch, Puke Breath, Nice Girl, Mama Boy is right! Let's get our dig on!" And then there was a great shaking, and I saw a head poke out through the dirt wall.

"KALEIDOSCOPE?!" She let out a bark. I can't believe the Psycho Hose-Beast is back! Ugh!

"Yup, I'd say that's her." Duncan commented.

"Izzy!" Julie immediately ran up to her.

**

* * *

**

Izzy's POV

"Yup, I've been living underground amongst the prairie dogs!" Butchy popped out of my camo hat, and Julie backed away from me, a look of shock on her face. "Aw Butchy, its okay! These are my friends!"

"You were a Killer Grip! One of our sworn enemies!" And Heather was right; I was still a sworn enemy. As it turns out, Chris signed in the legal forms that Kaleidoscope was eliminated so I could come back for even more drama!

* * *

"_Hey Izzy!" Chris stopped Izzy as she was about to go into a hotel in Toronto. Since she was eliminated, she was given a hotel room to relax in. It was like the Playa, and at the same time, it wasn't. She stayed here, being called out every so often for photo shoots and the TDA Aftermath show that Geoff and Bridgette had started. It was the day after the Aftermath show, and she had just arrived from yet another photo shoot advertising camping gear._

"_Oh, hey Chris!" She grinned broadly._

"_So I was wondering, how would you feel about coming back into the competition?"_

"_And be with Owen again? Of course I would!"Chris went on to explain how he had put in the forms that Kaleidoscope was eliminated, Izzy's alternate name, so technically, Izzy was still in the game. "Wow! Thanks Chris!"She knew it was just a ratings ploy, but she didn't care. It meant she was still in the running to win one million dollars._

"_You're coming back in a few days. I'll have one of my interns come and pick you up."_

"_Okay!" _

_A few days later in the film lot, Chris briefed her on what she should do to make an entrance to scare the contestants. He wasn't specific in terms of the details because he wanted Izzy to surprise them in the most ratings-worthy performance she could think of, and Chris knew she could think of a lot of things. "I want you to surprise the Screaming Gaffers during their challenge. And "help" them by taking them on a "shortcut" we'll have ready for you to use." Izzy got an idea of how to make her entrance with the Screaming Gaffers, but didn't voice it to Chris. He can catch it later in the reruns, she thought to herself. "The producers told me I have to make sure the Grips win something because they've been losing, as you know. So mislead the Gaffers, and you're back on the Grips with Owen!"_

"_Haha, totally Chris! Don't worry about me!" _

* * *

"Friends, enemies, living down here, it changes, like, your WHOLE perspective!" I inhaled. "Follow me! I know a shortcut to the finish line!"

"A shortcut?" Gwen's voice sounded strained; wonder why. Must be all of that Trent breakup drama getting to her.

"Isn't it great GWEN? We're totally going to win, GWEN." Heather added. She was so wrong, but whatever! By now, the Grips are probably almost there.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"What choice did I have? If the team knew the truth, I'd be toast!" Gwen complained, and then left the trailer.

"She didn't count Heather or Julie. Jeez, is she THAT BLIND?" Tawny rolled her eyes.

"A shortcut...by Izzy...not something I'd necessarily follow, but it's better than being stuck in a tunnel for a few hours digging with our bare hands." Julie stated matter-of-factly to the camera.

* * *

I led them down the pre-dug "shortcut", entertaining them with fabricated stories of my fake life underground. They never caught on; just like that time I made Heather barf because of that scary story I made up! That was SO much fun!

"Oh, here we are!" I pointed up to a dark opening, which was covered by a rock.

"Ooo, lemme out of this hole!" Leshawna immediately scrambled to the exit and pushed the rock away. "Aw hell no!" And I heard the Grips cheering. They won! Chris's plan worked! They totally won! I looked out to them next to Leshawna.

"We won, we won! Hahaha!"

"WE?" Leshawna glared at me.

"What? Its way more fun to be on the winning team!" I covered up my mistake successfully. I jumped out of the hole and ran to my teammates. "All right, Killer Grips! Haha, high five!"

"But…we voted you off." Lindsay commented, a smart comment at that.

"Uh uh, you voted off KALEIDOSCOPE. She was eliminated according to the legal forms."

"So technically, Izzy's still in the game!" Owen realized. Aw, he's such a big lovable guy!

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"It's so much fun to be back in the game with Owen! He's such a sweet guy!" Izzy laughed. "And I can totally win that money! Like I said, everyone's going to be seeing my name on the Walk of Fame one day, just wait!"

**

* * *

**

My POV

It was lunchtime now, and I was sitting with the rest of my teammates, next to Heather specifically, having already eaten lunch with Tawny and Blaire. The challenge had been completed in a matter of three hours, amazingly. I didn't know how far away the boxcars were, but they were probably pretty close. It just seemed like a lot longer in the tunnel.

Izzy's back, which had me overjoyed. It meant things wouldn't be as lonely around here, but what I wasn't so happy about was that I, for the first time in the competition, was on the losing team. This was now my second time of being in danger, a position I wasn't too happy in. The Grips have had it much worse, but now they have Izzy. And although Izzy is crazy, she's still a force to be reckoned with.

"It's so sad that you'll be kicked off tonight, isn't it Death Mask?" Heather smugly remarked. She was right, but I wasn't about to let that on to Gwen.

"What makes Your Royal Smugness so sure?" Gwen seethed, clearly not in the mood for Heather's truthful crap.

"I saw through your little stunt; you threw the challenge! We'd still be in that tunnel if it wasn't for Izzy! You're going to pay." Heather was right, but I'm the one who confirmed it with her. Okay, so she realized it during the challenges, but I had the advantage of Tawny and Blaire! And now that I know that Heather has an informant on the inside (along with a bunch of other useful things, such as my budding friendship with her), I can start a good game of manipulate the queen bitch.

"Gwen, here. After all the barfing, running, and digging, you need to keep your strength up." DJ served her a plate of Chef's slop. Apparently, I was wrong; Gwen hadn't eaten anything.

"Aw thanks DJ!" She put her hand to his face. "I can always count on you." She added sinisterly, glaring right at Heather.

**

* * *

**

Blaire's POV

"So Heather has an informant among Chris's staff?" I clarified with Julie once again. She had entered here quickly, asking for food because it was near lunchtime. After we ate lunch, she left to the fake Craft Services tent. When she came back a half hour later, Julie started to pace about the trailer. By now, I knew that when she was pacing, it often wasn't a good sign.

"I know all of Chris's staff. There's no way that Heather has an informant." Tawny added.

"Then how did she know of Gwen and Trent's breakup?! She has no access to a TV, so she didn't watch the Aftermath. What other way is there?!" Julie went back to pacing.

"Gwen could've told her." I offered.

"But Gwen wouldn't tell Heather anything like that! And you would've caught it on the cameras in there, and you didn't, otherwise you would've told me." That wasn't true. We didn't tell Julie about the water she had given Gwen. We were silent for a while.

"Heather…could have been listening in when Gwen and Trent broke up." Julie stopped pacing.

"She was at the showers." She seethed.

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Tawny asked, seriousness creeping into her voice. Julie turned to face Tawny.

"I'm positive." She snarled before walking out of the trailer and slamming the door after her.

"What's her problem?" Tawny asked me.

"We struck a nerve. You know how much she cares for Gwen." I remained silent for a second.

"You think Heather BSed the whole thing huh? Lied to Julie?"

"Yeah. I do. But we should give her time. She's in danger tonight."

**

* * *

**

Chris's POV

I looked at the Gaffers sitting on the benches, voting on the machines. Most of them had a scowl on their faces, but it was most apparent on Heather and Gwen's faces. The two were clearly out to get each other. Great drama, but I could almost sense that something wasn't going to turn out quite as planned. A grin still on my face, I announced that voting time was over.

"TIME'S UP! I'LL TALLY THE VOTES!" I looked down to my voting machine displaying who got how many votes, and Tawny and Blaire's calculations were never wrong. "Duncan, Leshawna, DJ, and Harold. Another award and one day to compete." Chef threw the Gilded Chrises to the four Gaffers. I had the final one in my hands. "Tonight's final Gilded Chris and another chance at the million goes to... Heather!" Heather immediately got up, took the award from me, and PUSHED me away from the lectern and onto the ground! My hair was messed up, and Tawny and Blaire came out from behind the curtains, stood over me, looked at each other, and grinned. I looked at a reaction from the Gaffers. Julie looked only mildly shocked; the rest didn't seem to show any emotion at all.

"Sorry Gwen! You're not the winner. You lost, so you're a loser. It's just logic." Heather's voice echoed through the mike she was using, MY MIKE! I CAN'T BELIEVE HER! I didn't have time to be angry at her, because Tawny, Blaire, and Chef were now messing up my suit, hair and outfit!

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Voting for Gwen? Yeah, that hurt. I'm not saying Heather was right, but something must have gone on with Gwen, smacking Harold upside his sweet, little head like that. Girl wasn't right, and when you're not right, you're wrong." Blaire and Tawny took Leshawna's words to mean that she might still have some residual feelings left for Harold, and Tawny was squealing with glee. As much as she made fun of both of them, she liked them together as a couple.

"Thing is, if Gwen had stayed in the game, according to prison rules, I'd either have to break a shovel over her head or fall in love with her. Obviously, neither option was feasible." Harold, for once, was somewhat correct. _At least he accepted that he can't have Gwen,_ both girls thought to themselves.

"My vote plus Leshawna, Harold, and Julie's equals the greatest day of my life. Bye bye, Gwennie!" Heather cheerfully waved to the camera.

"Sorry Gwen, but you're being harmful to your team--and yourself. Today only confirmed that. If you ever see this, good luck with Trent." Julie hung her head in sorrow and walked out of the trailer. Blaire wanted to stop her, but Tawny put a hand on her shoulder.

"No. Let her cool off, like you said."  


* * *

Chef then left me with Tawny and Blaire, and their grins got wider. I couldn't see what was happening, but I soon heard Chef's voice.

"DEAD GIRL WALKING!"

"Leave her, take me!" I could hear Duncan's faint voice from where I was, lying on the stage floor, Tawny, Blaire, and possibly the rest of the Gaffers all gone.

"Sure, whatever." I heard Chef reply, and then Duncan's panicked voice.

"What? Wait, wait! Okay, no, I didn't actually mean—"

"Nice try Duncan. You're not getting off that easy. Good luck, okay?" I heard Gwen's voice, and then I remembered what she said in the confessional, and I had to mention it.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"Definition of lousy: being a stickler for your word and having to vote yourself off." Gwen looked up and pointed at the ceiling of the trailer. "Whoever's in charge of karma, I hope that counts for something!"

After Gwen left, Blaire just had to comment. "What's with all of the karma references?"

* * *

I crawled desperately, propping myself against the lectern.

"Folks are getting feisty. Voting yourself off may win you a couple of karma points, but it definitely loses you a million bucks. Check...you...later." And it was finally over! What a night, and I definitely need my beauty sleep, considering how messed up I must look.

* * *

Me: Welcome back to the TDA Aftermath stage! I'm Lane! *long moment of silence* Uh...Nikki? *looks around* Where's Nikki?

Gwen: LET ME OUT! MY CLAUSTRAPHOBIA IS KICKING IN!

Trent: What am I doing in a closet?

Nikki: THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR VOTING YOURSELF OFF AND BREAKING UP WITH TRENT! NOW YOU'RE STAYING IN THERE UNTIL YOU AND TRENT GET BACK TOGETHER!!!

Me: NIKKI?!

Tawny: Don't worry about her. She's still pissed about her favorite character acting all kooky.

Nikki: I HEARD THAT!

Bridgette: Okay, so...

Geoff: Who are we interviewing?

Ezekiel: Maybe you should get that Gordon person you were talking about eh.

Courtney: Maybe you should bring me back to my hotel room! I am calling my lawyer and suing from wrongful imprisonment in a film lot.

Julie: Funny story about that...there's no signal in this place.

Eva: She's right. This place is a dead zone.

Noah: And none of us have Verizon.

Me: Whoa, subliminal advertising much?

Noah: You wrote it.

Me: Oh right. So that concludes this session of Live from the TDA Aftermath stage! I'm Lane--

Nikki: AND I'M NIKKI!

Me: And WE'RE signing off! Reviews are appreciated!


	27. Pizzmas

**A/N: **I am SERIOUSLY sorry I didn't keep my word. Real life caught up with me, something I hate. But I'm getting back into TDA, and--oh, any Canadians out there! That episode last night was the SHIT!!!! Okay, so I didn't watch it, but from what I've heard, it was WAY AWESOME! Hehe, I still can't believe--well, I'll just keep that little detail to myself. But it was so DAMN funny! It makes me even more determined to get to that point. I still have Episodes 8-12 to type for, which means around eight more chapters. So I'm really going to get crackin', and as long as real life doesn't catch up to me again, I should be getting back into faster updates.

I'm doing a bit of a crossover into my favorite TV show of all time, Dollhouse, for the next few chapters! I've been promoting it left and right, and I'm serious, you really need to watch this show! Might not be your cup of tea if you're younger than 13 though. But I'm not the boss of you. You'll see how Dollhouse is going to work its way in here. Adelle=not mine. Property of FOX and Joss Whedon.

Thanks to dichabite for prodding me ever so slightly to get this update out (it was appreciated!). Review when you're done, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

**

* * *

**

My POV

It was strange now, not having Gwen in the competition. I voted her off, but slowly, I was starting to regret it. _No Julie, get a hold of yourself. Gwen was unstable; she wouldn't have been able to survive much longer._ But that wasn't true. How I wish it were though. There's nothing I can do; I can't change what's happened. So as I approached the trailer, I put on a happy face for Izzy.

"Hey everyone!" I waved and grinned. All of the girls were in the trailer (asleep), but my grin fell when I saw Leshawna and Heather already getting ready to go to sleep.

"HI!!!!!" Izzy was immediately in front of my face.

I quickly tried to hide my shock of Izzy scaring me like that. "It's great to have you back Izzy!"

"Fraternizing with the enemy! I don't allow it!" Heather sniffed.

"We're not competing right now. We have our break." I felt my eyebrows knit together and my fists clench slightly.

"Okay! I'll see you in the morning Julie!" And Izzy bounded right back into her bunk. Very uncharacteristic of her, but I guess she wanted some sleep after coming back.

"We are ALWAYS competing. So if you can't get your head in the game, you'll be axed like poor old Gwennie." Heather gave a lofty laugh. "Besides, we all wanted her gone." She glared in Beth, Lindsay, and Izzy's direction. "You're not having any second thoughts, are you?"

I was, but I wasn't about to let Heather see that. I was ready to fire back an insult, but—"Your arguing is making it harder for me to go to sleep!" Leshawna yelled from her bunk.

"I'm trying to make sure our team wins. What are you doing?" Heather retorted.

"TRYING TO GET SOME SLEEP! SO SHUT IT!" Leshawna threw a pillow right to Heather's face. It hit its mark, and left Heather wide-eyed.

"You're going to pay for that." Leshawna only grunted in response to Heather's somewhat hollow threat. "And you…are going to pay if you EVER have second thoughts about our actions again. Are we clear?" Heather started to head over to her separate bed.

I finally found my voice again after hearing Heather and Leshawna argue. "We're not in an alliance." I heard Heather smirk, and she turned around to face me.

"But we ARE." I could only shake my head furiously. I could not have possibly signed my soul over to the she-devil…could I? "We're friends now. You helped me see that Gwen was throwing the challenge. You're a great friend. Friends help each other out." And she climbed into her bed.

I got changed into my blue shorts and white with gold polka dot camisole, time going by painfully slow. It was probably 10 PM by the time I turned off the lights and slid into my top bunk. I peered in the dark across the trailer at Gwen's former bunk, still disheveled from when she first got up today. Her stuff was gone though. I wouldn't see the light of her flashlight anymore, or hear her scribbling in her journal, even those sobs from the past three days. I'd miss it all. I looked up to the ceiling of the trailer, closed my eyes, and breathed deeply. Our first loss was like someone had died. I didn't imagine it to be this bad, but it was. Maybe because it was Gwen who was gone, the feeling of losing was ten times worse. Or maybe it was because someone had died…me.

I opened my eyes again. I was sitting in a chair at a mahogany round table, and when I looked down to my lap, I saw that I was wearing my normal stone colored short shorts and tan shoes. I was also wearing my same brown with white ovals top. But that was all that was remotely the same as what I knew. I was in a room that was rather dim, and there were paintings on the walls, simple paintings that were probably there to introduce a sense of Zen into the room, but didn't do their job. The walls were also the same color as the round table. And then I looked across from me. There was a woman, probably in her 40s, with brown hair (slightly red because of the dim light shining on her hair) pouring tea from a small green teapot into a small green cup. The feeling was eerily tense as she slid the shallow cup to me and folded her hands together as if she were a schoolgirl being obedient in a classroom. She nearly pierced me with her calm green eyes.

"Nothing is what it appears to be." Her voice was a British accent, one of my favorites, but the awe dissipated when I realized I had no clue what the hell she was talking about, and asked just as much.

"Who the hell are you? Where the hell am I? What the HELL do you want?!" I stood up from the chair, backing away from the woman.

"My name is Adelle DeWitt, and you are here so I can provide you with what you want." Adelle is a pretty name, but I was puzzled by her last statement.

"And what do I want?" I asked, very confused, slowly inching myself back to the chair and sitting down in it once again.

"An escape from your current life." She curtly smiled.

"And what do you know about my "current" life?" The voice that came out nearly shocked me out of my chair.

"Everything." The voice, despite it being a soft whisper, was unmistakable; it was—

"JUDGE?! IS THAT YOU?!" I leaned over the table, careful to not spill the cup of tea. "JUDGE! WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?!" His "human" image, as I learned a few days ago, of a white haired middle aged man reappeared.

"I have decided to stop your dreams for a short while." He closed his eyes, probably thinking to himself.

"What? But why?" He opened them, orange eyes dancing.

"You have more pressing matters to attend to than learning about the campers' pasts."

"Hey, if this is about me suddenly getting all buddy-buddy with Heather, I didn't want it either! I swear, I didn't want it!"

"Really?" That tone…it made me feel extremely guilty. I tried to come up with a good response worthy of the judge's approval as I sat back down in my seat again.

I decided to tell him the truth. "She can be a bitch, but she's the only one with half a brain in the game. I have Tawny and Blaire, I know, but they said I need to establish ties with the others, and all of my friends have been disappearing fast. I can barely contact Courtney, I'm not on such good terms with Duncan right now, Leshawna's getting suspicious of me, Bridgette's gone, Geoff's gone, Trent's gone…and now Gwen…Izzy came back, but I don't know how long she'll be here. DJ's okay, but it's only a matter of time until he collapses under pressure from lying to everyone about his alliance with Chef. As much as it pains me to say it, Heather's the only stable friend I've got here." _Besides, she'll be eliminated soon enough._

"That was not the pressing matter I wanted to talk to you about, but—"

"NO!!! I mean…what did you want to talk to me about?"

The judge was kind enough to drop the subject of Heather. "It has been—" A beep, and he looked down at a watch I hadn't seen on his wrist before. "I only have a few seconds…"

"WHAT?! NO, HURRY!"

"There is no time right now. The next break, you will know." He was disappearing, and Adelle was back in his place.

"KNOW WHAT?!"

"Welcome…home…" And another voice echoed in my head after he left.

"Nothing is what it appears to be." Adelle ended her phrase with a curt smile, and I gasped loudly as I shot up out of my bunk again.

"Fuck…that dream's going to be haunting me…" I fell back onto my pillow. _Welcome home. I wonder what he meant by that._ I fell asleep listening to Adelle's voice.

_Nothing is what it appears to be…_

**

* * *

**

Chase's POV

"Gordon, I need to talk to you." I called him over to the surveillance room. Tawny had told me about what Heather had told Julie. Heather said she had someone on the inside feeding her information. I had to make sure this wasn't true.

"Yeah, what do you need?"

I couldn't figure out a way to go around asking him, so I just point-blank asked him my question. "Have you been in an alliance with any of the contestants besides Geoff and Bridgette?"

"Uh no. Why?"

"Remember Julie?" He nodded. "Tawny said that Heather told Julie that she was getting information from someone on the inside, stuff that she shouldn't have access to."

"That doesn't make sense. Heather brought her cell phone with her, but it was ruined when she fell into Lake Wawanakwa. Unless…"

"I blocked off 3G networks and Wi-Fi for them. Even if she did somehow get another cell phone, she wouldn't have access to the Internet. Could there be another informant?"

"I'm out, most of the camera crew is out, you, Tawny, and Blaire are out, Chef has an alliance with DJ, and Chris…"

"Didn't Heather try to arrange some sort of deal with him after the reunion show?"

"I'm pretty sure it failed." We remained silent for a few seconds, thinking to ourselves. "What if Heather made the whole thing up?" That was new.

"I wouldn't put it past her—"

"Secret eavesdropping when Gwen was making her deal? Reading Gwen's diary again? Heather's not dumb; she has ways other than using informants."

"Crap, we can't check the footage because it's been locked up. And Chris is the only one who has the key."

"Crappin' fuck." Gordon mumbled, voicing my thoughts.

**

* * *

**

Tawny's POV

"Sorry Julie, the votes don't lie." I took pity on her. She must be going through a lot. The competition was starting to take its toll on her. "Duncan was the only one who didn't vote for Gwen. The votes for Gwen were you, Heather, Leshawna, Harold, and Gwen herself." He had voted for Harold to get the boot, but we weren't going to tell Julie that.

She sat down on a crate in the trailer. "I can't believe this. I had this game in the PALM of my hand, and it's slipping away."

"Heather's been lying to you." Blaire reasserted to Julie for about the fifth time. Julie looked up, fire in her eyes.

"No. She's changed."

"No, she hasn't." Chase had told me what he and Gordon thought through, and now I had to lie to Julie. It pained me to do so, but I was a flawless liar. "Chase…checked the footage and saw Heather going through Gwen's diary the night before the challenge. I'm sorry."

"So the only friend I've got here isn't really my friend at all."

"But you weren't even her friend in the first place." Blaire pointed out, and Julie's eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to ruin her if it's the last thing I do. I'll keep up this friendly façade, but she won't see me coming. She thinks she's got me in the palm of her hand; but it's actually the other way around! So, what's the next challenge?"

"Chris was so proud that he could come up with this particular one while he was sleeping that he told all of us, so you get to know what you're up against a few days ahead of time. The night before the challenge, Chris is going to tell everyone to act like they had just finished the prison challenge. He's going to make you all study from medical textbooks and learn medical school level terms."

"The textbooks are fake, filled with fake diseases and terms, but you have to study them anyway. He's going to first give you a fake challenge: arrange a body in his image. Then, he's going to make it seem like everyone has come down with some sort of fake disease."

"How?" Julie asked.

"You'll be getting pizza to eat while studying, and the pizza is going to have cheese laced with laxatives. There's also itching powder and pepperoni slices; it's supposed to trick everyone."

"So don't eat the pizza!" I added to lighten the mood.

Blaire rolled her eyes. "Whoever "finds the cure" wins and they get to go away to a spa for the next three days with a relative."

"Who's Chris planning for me?" Julie asked Blaire.

"Strangely, he didn't say anything about a relative for you. I know there was Harold's cousin, Leshawna's friend, DJ's mom, Heather's mom, Duncan's parole officer, one of Owen's brothers, Lindsay's sister, Beth's mom, Justin's agent, and Izzy's mom."

"Speaking of contestants…you know what else Chase told me?" Julie quirked an eyebrow, and Blaire glared at me.

"Don't even—"

"Courtney filed another lawsuit against Chris and the producers." I waved my right hand to the side.

"Tawny!"

"Another lawsuit?" Julie calmly asked, seemingly ready to kill someone.

"Your friend can hold multiple LONG grudges. I thought the one against Harold was bad enough, but it's getting some competition from the grudge she has against Chris. From what Chase told me, she's pulling out all of the stops."

"Didn't she do that the last time?" Blaire tiredly asked me. I hadn't told her the details, so she had reason to ask.

"I thought so too, but apparently, she's putting in a few conditions, the main one being that she can't get voted off the same day she's introduced."

"Can she DO that?" Julie incredulously asked me.

"Anything's possible in a lawsuit. Besides, didn't Chris fend off the last one due to inconclusive evidence or something?" Blaire asked me.

"She somehow got a hold of the unaired footage from the reunion show…I think she pulled a few strings with Chase, but he hasn't told me anything." Julie looked down to the floor of the trailer, thinking.

"This is a good thing, right? Duncan can be with her, and I can have more friends."

"Depends on if she wins. Even if she does win, she didn't specify anything about teams, so Chris could still exact his revenge by placing her opposite Duncan." Blaire rattled off as though it were common knowledge. "Hey, you have to promise us to not tell Duncan or anyone. If word gets out…you could be looking at an enemy in Chris. A really, REALLY big enemy."

"Um…all right." Julie got up and made her way to the door. "Wouldn't Duncan find out anyway?"

"He hasn't been going to Courtney ever since the Aftermath a few days back. Whatever happened there…it's not good. Watch your back, okay?" Blaire, ever the caring one.

"I always do." And Julie left us in the trailer.

**

* * *

**

My POV

It was the night before the challenge. Nothing had happened after my talk with Tawny and Blaire. At least, nothing I knew about. Everyone was finally heading to their trailers for the night when Chris's voice came on over the megaphone.

"Evening contestants! Can you act the way you did the night of your challenge?"

"And why would we do that?" Duncan snidely asked.

"Because I said so! And we're filming…NOW!" The megaphone made a clicking noise.

"Why do we have to do what he says?" Beth asked the group.

"Might as well go along with it." I shrugged. We all got in a line, and when an owl hooted, we started walking in front of the trailers, the Grips in the front.

Izzy chuckled. "Everything is so much smaller than I remembered!" I held my tongue, preparing myself for however Chris was going to tell us we had to pull an all nighter.

"I still can't believe Gwen made a side deal with the other team." Duncan commented to Harold and Heather. He must've gotten some information from Courtney or…somehow… "Didn't know she had it in her."

"I remember that bush! I remember that tree! I—!" Izzy tripped over a rock, but quickly recovered. "Oh, I remember that rock! Hey rock!" Izzy waved to the rock.

"Well, I can't believe they let Izzy back! They totally negated our numbers advantage!" Heather commented, fully immersed in her role. But it seemed everyone was. It was almost as though we were back in the past. Heather whispered to me loud enough for Leshawna to hear her. "And that's the only advantage we had."

"Don't be starting something girl."

Lindsay yawned. "Well, goodnight everybody." Lindsay tried to pull the door, but ended up bashing her head against the trailer door and flew back down to the ground.

"Hey, who locked the door?!" Duncan tried pulling on the guys' trailer door. I went up to the girls' trailer, only to find out that Duncan was right; the trailer door was locked. I then heard a loud crash and quickly spun around. Izzy was now on the ground.

"Izzy—!" I then heard sirens.

She gasped, quickly recovering once again. "Cops!" She cartwheeled to the side of the guys' trailer.

It wasn't cop car sirens she had heard, but ambulance sirens. An ambulance screeched to a halt in front of us and dropped off a metal cart draped with a light blue sheet. It was hiding something as far as I could tell. The ambulance quickly drove off after dropping off its cargo. We all gathered around the cart.

"Ew, what is that?! A dead body?!" I could see that Heather was slowly inching away from the cart.

"Or an undead body." Duncan added. Suddenly, a bleary eyed Chris rose up from the cart, revealing the fake textbooks Tawny and Blaire had warned me about. I approached the cart from behind Chris and attempted to steal a textbook.

"Boo!" He ended up scaring Harold enough to make him jump into Leshawna's arms. "Calm yourselves; no one's dead yet. And don't touch that!" He glared at me, and snatched the blue textbook I had picked up from the cart.

I opened my mouth to protest, but he started talking again, so I had to shut up so I wouldn't miss anything. "I'm here to prep you plucky ducks for our most awesome challenge yet!" So Tawny and Blaire weren't kidding when they said he was proud of his idea for us. "These textbooks hold the sum total of eight years of med school." He threw the textbook to Duncan. I didn't care much for the textbooks since I knew they were fake. "And each one of you gets one because tomorrow, we're gonna play doctor!" I could see Duncan roll his eyes at Chris's comment.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I hate doctors. They just get off on telling people stuff they don't wanna hear, like, like, 'don't pick at that scab', or 'if you eat nothing but pickled eggs, you'll die'. Hey, don't tell me what I can't eat. Now playing doctor, playing doctor I can handle." Duncan smirked at his last remark. Blaire was wondering where he got the pickled eggs idea from. Had he been told that before?

"I could be a doctor if I wanted to." Harold started, and Tawny tried to get him out by powdering his face. "I have plenty of hands-on experience 'cause I've contracted more than 300 known diseases," Tawny dropped the powder ball and scurried away from Harold, and Blaire covered Tawny's mouth so the footage wouldn't have her screaming in it. At the same time, Blaire was also fighting back a scream of disgust. "And I've been cured of nearly all of them. But there is no vaccine for loving Leshawna!" At the moment, Blaire and Tawny were too grossed out by Harold to fire an insult at him.

* * *

He passed out textbooks to all of us before he started talking—again. "To win this challenge, you're gonna wanna memorize the ENTIRE contents of these textbooks—by morning."

"But it's already so late!" Heather commented, wide eyed. She must really want her beauty sleep.

"You got that right! What med school all nighter would be complete without pizza?" Seeing Chef carrying the boxes of pizza (which I knew to not eat) reminded me of DJ. I looked around, and sure enough, he was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him for most of our break, and not at all today. Maybe he helped Chef make the pizza. I pray to God that he doesn't know about the laxatives though; that would mean another competitor!

Chef dropped the boxes of pizza in Owen's hands. He took a long whiff of the boxes, the steam visibly entering his nose, which grossed me out a little. "Mmmm, that smells GOOD!" I agreed with Owen; the pizza did smell good, but that pizza was dangerous, and I wasn't about to risk my winnings for some pizza.

"It's got to be a trick!" Leshawna glared at Chris. At least I wasn't alone in my thinking. Even without Tawny and Blaire's warning, I would've thought twice about eating that pizza.

"More like method acting." Chris hopped onto Chef's gold cart. "Med school interns consume 850% more pizza than the average human."

"Really? Sure you're not lying to us?"

"Yes! So dig in, because there's plenty more where that came from!" The golf cart chugged away.

"Looks okay…" Duncan had a slice of pepperoni pizza in his hands, but this time, I decided to keep to myself about the dangers of the pizza. I could always make up some excuse so the others wouldn't question me further. "Smells okay…" He took a whiff of the pizza, which I could already smell. "Tastes…" He took a bite, and I knew he was going to be done for. The pizza looked really good. "INCREDIBLE!"

"How is that even possible?" Heather asked.

"Anything's possible in this show." I shrugged, and then clapped my hands and sighed. "So, I'm sure we don't want to be near each other. There are…" I counted the boxes of pizza. "Eleven boxes. Let's leave six with the Grips and five will go to us." I took the first five boxes from Owen. I started to walk toward the fake Craft Services tent, and the rest of my team was close behind, seemingly drawn to the scent of the pizza.

**

* * *

**

Lindsay's POV

Our team got chairs to sit around a fire which Beth had started. I tried reading the textbook, but it was so complicated and hard to understand. But we had finally won a competition, and I wanted our team to keep winning. That way, I can stay here and stay with Beth more often.

"Hey Beth," I heard Justin's wonderful voice, and I stopped reading for a while to listen to him talk. I took a bite of my pizza. This was GREAT pizza! "Do I squint when I read?"

Beth seemed very red in her face. Is it because she likes Justin too? I can't remember. "I don't know. Your shirt's distracting me, unless you—" Justin had taken his shirt off, and Beth started acting weird. She had pushed the book out of Justin's hands. "I'll read the book to you instead, spare your beautiful eyes." She cleared her throat. "Chapter one, anatomy." She got red again. "Is it getting hot in here?!"

I turned my head to Izzy and Omar. "Hey, you know what my brothers and me did once?! We had a no-hands pizza-off!" Omar let out this weird laugh. "You should've been there."

Izzy threw her book and highlighters up into the air. "Let's pretend I was! Here!" And then she started tearing the pizza apart and got the red stuff everywhere, even in my hair!

"My hair!"

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I am SO glad to be back! I was the top of my pre-med class before the RCMP started chasing me, so this should be a snap! And, Owen is just the sweetest thing EVER! If he were a candy bar, he'd taste just like caramel covered MARSHMALLOWS!" Izzy rambled. Tawny had to hand it to Izzy; she was just as crazy as she was.

"It's totally awesome that Izzy is back! Yeah! It's like Christmas but with pizza! It's PIZZMAS!" Owen cheered.

"I would like a holiday called Pizzmas." Tawny whispered to Blaire, and Blaire responded by slapping her in the back of her head. "Fine, just Christmas." Tawny grumbled to herself.

* * *

My hair was ruined!!!!! "I'm taking a shower!" I got up and stormed off to the trailer (which I could now open) to get my shower things. I felt so ashamed walking around with red stuff in my hair.

**

* * *

**

My POV

"This pie is RAD! Who knew Chef could rock the 'za?" Duncan took another bite of his—I think—eighth slice of pizza. Our team was in the fake Craft Services tent, and I was lightly skimming through the fake textbook. It felt kind of weird too, as in, the texture of the book itself, but I didn't know why.

"Aren't you having any Leshawna? Julie?" Harold asked us, and Leshawna was silent.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I LOOOOVE pizza, but me and dairy DO NOT "agree". And brother, you DO NOT want to be around for that!" Tawny and Blaire had learned a new thing about Leshawna today. Tawny was thinking of some devious plan to make sure Leshawna gets some dairy into her system, like the time she and Blaire blew up Leshawna's hair into an afro.

* * *

"I'm not hungry." I casually shrugged and went back to skimming through the book.

"Well, no pizza for Leshawna and Julie means more for the rest of us!" Duncan took his ninth piece of pizza out of the box.

"Hey, slow down! DJ hasn't had any!" Harold warned Duncan, and strangely, Duncan didn't eat his pizza slice yet.

"Where IS DJ anyway?" Heather looked to the kitchen, where I had observed DJ a few minutes ago. Now, he had popped up at the end of the table we were sitting at.

"Uh…I've been here the whole time, obviously. Now hand me some pie." Duncan threw his slice over to DJ, who took a bite out of it. I smirked on the inside. DJ didn't know about the laced cheese. I wonder why Chef neglected to mention that detail to him? "Mmmm, I AM good!" He whispered to himself.

"Did you say something DJ?" I didn't get a response to my question because Leshawna stood up and announced her departure.

"Huh, well, I'm not just gonna watch y'all eat. Tomorrow is a reward challenge; no need to bust our humps when no one's getting kicked off." And she started walking out of the tent.

"The lady has a point. I'm out." And Duncan left with her.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"I could've forced them to stay, but it's not like they'll help us win. I mean, medical terms? Please. Those two will only come in handy if the challenge is about piercings or plus size shopping." Heather made yet another snide remark about her teammates.

* * *

"I'll just—take the books back to the cart." I picked up Leshawna and Duncan's textbooks along with mine to take back to the cart. I was going to get some sleep too.

I caught up to Leshawna and Duncan (who had been whistling) right in time for a conversation. "Now that Gwen's gone, we've gotta watch our backs around Heather. I was thinkin'—" She turned around. "Julie? What are you doing here?"

"Going for some sleep. Should I go or something?"

"No. I was thinkin'…what if you," referring to Duncan. "Me, you," referring to me. "And Harold formed an alliance."

Duncan let out a loud burst of laughter. "You and me and Julie and HAROLD?! IN AN ALLIANCE?!" He kept laughing. His hatred for Harold must still be strong.

"I'm serious!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatev." Duncan walked back to his trailer, smiling from Leshawna's offer.

"Julie?" Leshawna asked me, hopeful. I was fine with it, but…

"I thought Harold was still upset with me about last season. But if he's not, I'm in. And I'll do my best to get Duncan to join too."

"What makes you so sure that you can succeed?"

"I don't know if I'll succeed. I'm only going to try my best. 'Night Leshawna." I waved goodbye and walked over to the trailers. I dropped the books off at the cart, went into the trailer, got changed, and went to sleep.

* * *

Julie: Hey there folks! Lane is very sorry about the long overdue update, but promises to go faster with the updates!

Nikki: Now that that's over, here's our new guest star staying with us, please, give it up for Gordon! *he walks out, but no one claps* CLAP YOU LITTLE MONKEYS CLAP!!!!! *everyone lightly chuckles and starts clapping*

Geoff: Great to have you on the show dude!

Gordon: Yeah, I guess. Wait, I thought we weren't filming.

Geoff: We aren't. But just to get that feel--

Gordon: I get it. *mumbles under breath* Don't need another Chris to piss me off...*alarms ring*

Lane: Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Not cool, not cool!

Blaire: Lane, what did you do? You're making Nikki and Tawny go nuts. *said girls are imitating the klaxon alarm*

Lane: *turns off alarm using remote control* It's my new state-of-the-art spoiler detector! It goes off at the first sign of anyone giving out spoilers not yet introduced to the readers! I discussed it with Nikki, but she wanted to use a piano...we're not destroying any musical instruments here, okay?

Nikki: *grumbles under breath*

Tawny: I miss Izzy being around here. *alarm starts to go off, but is quickly turned off*

Noah: I don't.

Tawny: Aw, we all know you secretly pine for her!

Noah: Thank the fanfiction writers for that...*rolls eyes*

Lane: *ahem* Say sorry to the writers who ship you with Izzy. *whispers* That way, I can still get more readers and reviewers!

Noah: I'm sorry fanfiction writers who ship me with Izzy. Happy?

Lane: Very! So, until the next chapter (which should be soon), let's all try to get along. While Teletoon is at Episode 13 (DAMN YOU CANADIANS!!! Just kidding!), the USA is getting Episode 3 tonight. I'll put this counter up whenever I update on a day when TDA is showing a new episode. So like, review and stuff! Please!


	28. Maclean MD

**A/N: **Fifty reviews! Amazing! Means fifty more until 100! YAY! I've learned to appreciate the little things in life. So, here's another update coming your way! Isn't this faster than the last one? So I think you'll like the altered ending; it was an idea I had in mind ever since I saw the episode. And I finally got a hold of Episode 13. It's still the shit, but I would've appreciated more CxD interactions. I just really like CxD is all. One of the Confession Cam moments in this episode never took place in my re-interpretation, so if you see a Confession Cam moment missing, it was intentional. So give yourself a stick of minty gum to wake up, it's time to start the chapter! Review, disclaimer is in the first chapter.

I'm starting this countdown too: Chapters until "Ocean's Eight--Or Nine"-eight

* * *

The next morning was a blur. I could just barely remember getting dressed and eating two sunny side up eggs and a few strips of bacon. All I could remember was the food I ate in the tent and the dead silence of the contestants, interrupted by Chris instructing us to go to Studio 4 for our challenge. Once I entered that studio though, my senses started to return to me. I looked around, and everyone was bleary eyed and dog tired, except for Leshawna and Duncan.

"So…tired." Harold remarked. Everyone was in such a daze, and seemed to be voicing their thoughts.

"Owie, my brain is full!" Lindsay was rubbing her head as though she had slammed into something.

"Oh man, nothing like a good night's sleep, am I right?" Duncan asked Leshawna. Everyone was pissed off at Duncan's comment (Heather ran her finger across her neck); even I was pissed off.

"MORNING COMPETITORS!!!" Chris was ever the cheerful sadistic host today. "Or should I say…DOCTORS?!?!?!" He took out a bazooka like gun and shot out headbands and stethoscopes to all of us. The force of the blast made Lindsay fall over with a scream, and after that, everyone was wide awake. "Ready for today's big challenge?"

"SOME of us are more ready than OTHERS." Heather glared in Leshawna, Duncan, and my direction.

"You made your choice, I made mine." Leshawna fired back.

"Ooo, tension. My favorite! Let's take it inside!" Chris was clearly being a callous jerk again, caring only for the ratings.

We were now in front of two vats of green goo. Blaire and Tawny hadn't told me about this, so I was quite unprepared. At least I knew the details of the rest of the challenge.

"Today's reward challenge is called Visiting Hours. And only one member of the winning team will get to enjoy the reward." Chris explained.

"If only one of us gets the prize, why even bother trying to win?" Duncan asked Chris, but Leshawna answered with a sigh.

"A challenge is a challenge. It's one for all and all for one." Strange, I don't remember the phrase that way.

"Yeah, but f we win, who gets to be the one?"

"The person who most directly contributes to the win." Heather quickly rattled off as though it were common knowledge.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"As in ME! DUH!" Heather rolled her eyes at the camera.

* * *

"Chris, you haven't told us what the reward is yet." Harold seemingly steered the topic away from the selfish needs of Heather, Duncan, and Leshawna.

"You're very perceptive Harold. Let's see if that'll help you and your team assemble…A CADAVER!!!" I could tell Chris was getting ready to introduce what our challenge was going to be.

"You mean like, a dead BODY?!" Lindsay gasped. I was shocked that she was able to remember that. I guess she wasn't kidding when she said her brain was full.

"No, I mean like, a GIANT dead body. These tanks contain the dismembered parts of two identical cadavers. Each player will climb their respective team ladder, strap on the bungee cord, and jump into the tank with hopes of retrieving a body part. Any parts you find will be snapped in place on the platforms. Use those chains to raise them all the way to the roof, where they'll be reanimated by a blast of lightning! First team to bring a Franken-Chris to life wins! First crack goes to the team who can tell me how to treat someone with a bean stuck up their nose."

"Ooo, ooo! Administer 2 CC's of pain meds and probe the affected area with a sterile swab!" Beth exclaimed like a know-it-all in school. Uh…WHAT?! Chris must've REALLY had a good idea to be able to trick everyone into thinking this was stuff taught in med school.

"Correctamundo!" Beth was right, and she climbed up the ladder, strapped on the bungee cord, and dove into the vat. However, she came up with an eel in her hands, which quickly shocked her.

"What the heck was that?!" Beth was gripping onto the diving platform so she wouldn't fall in again.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to mention the electric eels; three zaps and you're out!" Chris explained. I bet anything that he intentionally "forgot". Beth dove right back in, and pulled out a part of a leg, which was quickly thrown to Owen, who snapped it in place.

"Okay, next question. Your patient has an itchy red inflammation on their butt. Diagnosis?"

"Diaper rash. Apply salve repeatedly to achieve humected disversion." What the heck did Heather just say?! These contestants are more gullible than I thought! But Heather was right, and she jumped into the vat, only to be shocked by an eel, and then two more before pulling out a forearm.

"Got it, got it!" Harold yelled, but then he was pushed out of the way by Duncan.

"Got it!" He then stepped on Harold, who gasped in pain. "Whoops-a-daisy." I was staying clear of the vat, staying by the platform.

"I'll take that." I attempted to take the forearm out of Duncan's hands, but he pulled back.

"No, you aren't." I wasn't going to let him win this time, so I kicked him in the one place only Courtney had dared to kick at. It achieved the goal I wanted, and he collapsed to the floor. I picked up the forearm, which had slipped from his hands.

"Oh, it's not like you can help the team this challenge. Besides, bullying Harold like that isn't nice. You should know better." I snapped the forearm into place. Everyone, save Duncan, was staring at me. "You could've gone on without me!" But they didn't. Protocol rules I guess.

"Next question. Your patient has got a white tongue, red eyes, and they're oozing gooey crud. Diagnosis?" Owen answered Chris's question.

"Ooo, ooo, I KNOW THIS! Pinkis Eyeicus, treat with two rounds of flopperty-gibbits!" What were flopperty-gibbits anyway?! But Owen was right, and he managed to get another leg out of the vat. He tossed it to Justin, who then panicked and dropped it (something about not letting it touch his hair), only to be caught by Izzy, who snapped the leg into place. "Nice work Iz—" The cord snapped from Owen's weight, and he was shocked by the eels.

"Smells like earwax?" Chris asked our team.

"Pineappleitis!" DJ answered, and gave Chris a high five. DJ then proceeded to get shocked by three eels at the same time, but managed to get a piece out.

"Fur between the toes?" Chris had a piece of fake fur in between his toes.

Lindsay managed to answer this question. "Stick two horsefeathers up the wizbang!"

And for the next 45 minutes, it went on with us answering, some, and the Grips answering some, and I was still putting all of the pieces in place. Finally, we managed to get most of the cadaver assembled, but we still needed another complete arm. Heather dove in, and we managed to get a hand, which was caught by Duncan. I was taking a break after assembling most of the body for the past 45 minutes. However, my break was a bad choice; I could've prevented what happened next.

Duncan took the hand, and pantsed Harold, who was wringing out his shirt from diving into the goo so many times. "GOSH! That is SO not cool!" Harold was pissed, and Duncan seemed unfazed by Harold's remark. I would've intervened were it not for Leshawna beating me to doing so, but I still approached Leshawna in case she needed my help.

"All right you two, separate! Stop getting up in Harold's grill, okay?! We win this, maybe you'll get the reward!" Leshawna yelled at Duncan. She then walked over to a still upset Harold. "Don't let him get to you baby, he's just playing."

"He's lucky I didn't pull a karate move on him." He then made some movements and noises of him trying to imitate karate, but his pants ended up falling down again.

"Actually, I think you, me, Julie, and Duncan could form one hell of an alliance!"

"A WHAT?! With him?! And her?!" He pointed at me. Clearly, he still hated me, and I hated that. Couldn't he let it rest?

"I can HEAR you, you know!"

"Are you nuts?!" Harold had directed his attention back to Leshawna, and he hopped away after that.

"I'm just trying to look out for you! Oooh, unbelievable." Leshawna crossed her arms in frustration.

"Leshawna, if he's not okay with me, then I'm not going for the alliance. I'm sorry, but I am not going to ally myself with someone who hates me. Good luck though." And I walked back to my post by the platform.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"How could Leshawna even talk to Duncan? He's a worthless punk, or my name isn't Harold Norbert Cheever Doris McGrady V." Harold suddenly cringed. "Please don't tell Duncan about the Doris part!" Tawny and Blaire decided to tell Duncan about Harold's full name when he came in the next time. Wasting an opportunity to bully Harold was too good to pass up.

"I can't believe Harold. I may not hate him anymore, but his refusal of my blatant apology is making me his enemy fast." Julie glared at the camera. She mumbled under her breath, "I thought we were supposed to forgive each other and be friends!"

* * *

DJ managed to get the full arm, and Duncan had taken the liberty of fastening it for me. "Time to start yanking some chain! And be quick about it because the Grips are right behind you!" DJ and Harold started pulling the chain so the platform would go up, and I kept track of the other team.

Izzy had managed to get the final part of the cadaver, Chris's head, and as soon as it was snapped in place, Justin, Lindsay, and Beth were yanking the chain too, and making some actual progress. I glanced at where we were. The Grips weren't too far behind, and I could tell that this could be close. Now, when is the real challenge going to kick in?

"Ah, it's so exciting, I can't take it!" And Izzy, who was standing next to Owen, grabbed his arm and bit down into it.

Owen let out a scream. "Hubba hubba." How he found Izzy attractive still continues to amaze me.

"Ew, what's this icky sore?" That must be the pepperoni slice Tawny and Blaire were talking about. "Oh, and you're burning up. Just like my passionate soul." Owen suddenly let out a green gassed burp, causing Izzy to collapse.

"Hold on, red sores, fever, lemony burps, aren't those symptoms of one of the diseases in the book?" Justin asked Beth and Lindsay.

"Page 753, Mortitistical Crumples disease!" Beth gasped. "And it's FATAL!!" Justin and Lindsay dropped the chain, and the rest of my team gasped in response. This must be the disease we have to try to cure!

"Mortitistical Crumples isn't just fatal…it's HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS!" Heather added, clearly scared for her life (and showing more feeling than most of the times I've been here).

"Okay, looks like its quarantine time! See ya, wouldn't want to be ya!" Chris ran out of the studio, and he was drilling the doors shut. This was proven when I tried to open the doors, but they wouldn't budge. I had to play along for the sake of keeping in good terms with everyone.

"Seriously weird. Owen somehow gets infected with a fatal disease?" Duncan asked all of us. We had to work together in order to "find the cure". I really wanted to prove that Chris was lying to us, but then I'd lose the trust of my teammates.

"I'm sure it's just the 24 hour kind of fatal." Owen was tapping his fingers together.

"Oh, you poor brave dead man! I'll find a cure, I swear!" Izzy was really getting into character. Either that, or she was being crazy again.

"Quarantine Owen, STAT!" Harold commanded, and Beth was already inflating a quarantine bubble for Owen to stay in.

"Get inside before you kill us all!" An unwilling Owen was lifted up by Justin, Duncan, and Leshawna and was thrown into the inflated bubble.

"Aaaaahhhh, I see another sore…on DJ." Heather was aghast, and I soon spotted it on DJ's arm.

"It's gotta be some kind of mistake!" He tried to wave it off his arm, but he was put into another bubble by Harold and Izzy. Meanwhile, Owen was getting claustrophobic and crazy.

"Is that another symptom?" Lindsay asked about Owen's claustrophobia. And then he started rolling around, bouncing about the room like a pinball.

"Great, now Owen's not only infectious, he's a deranged pinball of death!" Heather still found the time to insult someone.

"We need to confirm no one else is infected! Symptoms of Mortitistical Crumples disease include explosive diarrhea," Lindsay quickly rushed to the port-a-potty in the studio. "Itchy lips, sudden hot flashes, sea sickness, speaking in tongues," Justin, Beth, Heather, and Izzy all had those symptoms, respectively. "And temporary blindness. Anyone? Anyone? Well, that's a relief." It was only Duncan, Leshawna, Harold (who had rattled off the symptoms), and I left unaffected. That was about to change. Harold turned around and bumped into Izzy, who was knocked over by Harold. "I'M BLIND!"

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"I know it's meant to be dangerous and all, but it's STILL a TV show. No way they'd actually let somebody up and die in here, am I right?" Tawny and Blaire shook their heads at Leshawna's assumption.

"You're wrong." Tawny said.

"We work for Chris. If he's willing to let US die (and he's told us before), he's probably willing to let you die." Blaire added.

In the surveillance room, Chris was watching Leshawna's confession, and decided to confess to his own camera. "You think we wouldn't, but just imagine the ratings!"

* * *

My turn to step in. "Even though none of us read the textbook, I know enough that we should get these people onto some stretchers so they can rest. Leshawna, go find the stretchers. We'll need six of them. Duncan, you're going to help me get everyone onto the stretchers. LET'S MOVE!" Leshawna found them, and Duncan and I put everyone onto the stretchers, knowing full well that I would be fine. All I had to worry about was either getting puked on by Heather or get grossed out by Beth's sweat.

"I'm burning up!" Harold yelled in pain.

"Want us to take your temperature with this thermometer?" I didn't know where Duncan had gotten that thermometer, but I suspected he was up to no good. Harold only confirmed this when he yelled that it was a rectal thermometer. Leshawna knocked Duncan out of Harold's way, and Duncan landed at my feet.

"I told you not to bully Harold!" Duncan suddenly shot up off the ground and sprinted to Leshawna. "Duncan!"

"Have you two noticed that we're the only ones who didn't study all night AND are the only ones who haven't been infected?"

"I'm starting to question this Morty-testy-my Patients junk. We need to get our hands on one of those textbooks. There's gotta be something these guys missed." Leshawna was determined, and fully believed that this disease existed.

"Good idea, except Chris sealed off the only exit."

"Not the only exit." Leshawna pointed up, and I could see what she meant. I followed her and Duncan to the platform that formerly held our cadavers.

"I'm not a huge fan of heights." I had to stop them before they did something rash.

"Wait. If this is a "contagious disease", and we've been near them for the past half hour, why haven't we caught it? The logic's not adding up. I'd bet anything that this disease is another one of Chris's elaborate pranks." I looked over to Owen and DJ. "Leshawna, do you have a pin on you?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to let Owen and DJ out. Don't you see? If they were wrong about the disease being contagious, then that means they were mislead by the book! And who GAVE us those books?"

"Chris." Duncan muttered under his breath.

"Exactly. This is just Chris being his sadistic self."

"I hope you're right." Leshawna handed me the pin.

"I am." I knew I was right, and I proceeded to let Owen and DJ out of their bubbles. "And this also means that the symptoms are fake! Everything the book said was a lie!"

"Then how did all of these people fake being sick?" Duncan asked. "Explain that."

"The only explanation for that…" I was stumped for a while, but I managed to figure it out. "It's a delusion. They've tricked themselves into thinking they're sick because they all stayed up so late studying! It's possible!" I had heard of people tricking themselves into thinking they were pregnant, so this was nothing new.

"What about those sores?" Leshawna asked.

"Those aren't sores." I went to DJ and peeled the pepperoni slice off of him after he stepped out of the port-a-potty. "They're pepperoni slices." Owen peeled his off and ate it.

"Mmmm, pepperoni." He farted and I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, pepperoni, like pepperoni pizza!" I grinned. With Tawny and Blaire's information, I figured out this disease.

"Yeah, we get it." Duncan rolled his eyes.

"You still don't understand. They all ate the pizza. I bet anything that the pizza that they ate had to do with these symptoms. And that's why we need to go and find out how this was caused or Chris will never let us out. If this were all we were supposed to do, he would've let us out by now."

"And how come Duncan hasn't gotten sick?" Leshawna asked. "He ate the pizza."

"I noticed. His symptoms should be kicking in sometime around…NOW." And sure enough, Duncan complained that he had to use the restroom and ran into the port-a-potty. I turned my attention back to Leshawna. "And WE need to find out how this was caused. I'll get the textbook, you look through the kitchen."

**

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**

Chris's POV

I can't believe Julie figured it out! Nothing gets past this girl, absolutely nothing! Even if Leshawna had eaten the pizza, she probably still would've figured it out! Am I really that easy to read? I watched over Julie, who was now thumbing through the textbook.

"I knew these covers felt weird." She managed to rip it apart! My hard work ruined! Well, it was actually Chase's hard work, but who cares? "Cereal boxes?" She had peeled the fake cover off the fake textbook. "Chris really sunk low for this challenge." Coming from Julie, that was an insult. From anyone else, I would've complimented myself. She then proceeded to rip all of the textbooks apart, save one. "I'll keep this one for evidence." And she disappeared out of the camera's view.

Leshawna was rummaging through Chef's kitchen, looking at all of his ingredients. Then she found the container of cheese laced with itching powder and laxatives, and she found the sticker indicating it was itching powder hidden under the cheese sticker. "Chris, that son of a bitch." She murmured before covering the other sticker and walking out of the kitchen.

I can't believe I was found out. I saw Leshawna and Julie barge into the studio. Ugh, time to go and announce the Gaffers are the winners. I owe Gordon thirty bucks; he won the bet on which team was going to win. I hate losing!

I climbed up to the top of the studio where there was an opening for me to go down. I stood on a loop at the end of a chain, and a remote control lowered me to the ground, where all of the pissed campers were.

"CONGRATULATIONS SCREAMING GAFFERS! You just won the challenge!" The Gaffers cheered, even Julie. "Brilliant diagnostic skills Duncan, Leshawna, and Julie! Way to suss it out. And, for your reward…knew I forgot something! Just a sec!" I used the remote control so the chain could pull me back up. I had forgotten the pictures to show the Gaffers! Crap!

**

* * *

**

Leshawna's POV

Now was my last chance to initiate that alliance. I was still going to include Julie though, even though she had said no. She was valuable, no matter what she might think otherwise. I grabbed onto Duncan and Harold's arms, and Julie was close by.

"Okay you three, all I want is an ironclad alliance to get Heather out of my face! Can we not agree on this?"

"I agree." Julie nodded.

"I don't know if I can handle being in an alliance with you, Cali Girl, and Doris here." I had had just about enough of Duncan's crap with Harold.

**

* * *

**

Confession Cam

"How could you?! That's the lowest, meanest, dirtiest, GOSH!! Well, that's the last secret you're gonna get from this guy. Now you'll never know about my teapot collection, or the fact that I wear a wizard's cape when I play Solitaire--" Harold stopped talking at that point, realizing they were more secrets that could--and would, in Tawny and Blaire's eyes--be blabbed to Duncan.

* * *

"I absolutely refuse to be in an alliance with Duncan and Julie! With you, yes, a hundred thousand kajillion times yes. But with those two? NEVER!" And I was having just about enough of Harold's crap.

"Again, if he can't stand me, I refuse to get involved with someone who can't rely on me, because then I can't rely on them." Julie added.

"I try and help, and THIS is what I get. You're a pair of fools." I was referring to Duncan and Harold, but Julie was slightly offended.

"I want this alliance, but again, I need trust, and if I don't have that, I'm sorry." Then Chris came down on the chain again, this time with a covered tray in his hands.

**

* * *

**

My POV

"As I was saying, for your reward…" Chris pulled off the cover on the tray, and there were five photos. I couldn't see any of my relatives on there, but I saw everyone else's relatives that Blaire and Tawny had told me about. "Yep, one of you gets a whole spa night away from this crappy studio lot with your very best friend—except for Julie. We couldn't get in touch with any of her relatives, so should she accept this reward, she gets to go by herself!" That was very appetizing, but if I couldn't take anyone…"So, who's the lucky stiff?" I remained silent as the others argued, and then suddenly, Leshawna started crying.

"Aaah, I'm sorry, it's just…it's been so stressful; I thought I was gonna lose you. Fighting for your lives…it's all just been too much." And Leshawna buried her face in her hands. No, this wasn't right. Leshawna didn't cry. I could only assume one thing, and she was going to hate me for it. But this injustice couldn't pass.

"You snide bitch."

Somehow, Leshawna managed to keep in character. "Wh-wh-what?"

"I would applaud you for wonderful acting, but not in this case." I was interrupted again.

"What are you talking about? Leshawna's crying, she deserves the reward." DJ asked me.

"Crocodile tears." I narrowed my eyes at Leshawna. "You're trying to trick us all into letting you get off this crappy studio lot and away from all of us. That's betraying trust. Teammates don't lie to each other; teammates don't screw their fellow teammates over. But…I applaud you for the wonderful acting."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, she's not acting. And I'm an expert." Duncan went to her side! I can't believe this!

"My Leshawna would NEVER trick us." Harold supported her too.

"That was just TOO real to be acting. Sorry Julie." DJ wasn't supporting me either.

"Heather?" I was worried; I knew I was right, but—

"She really has a heart." Heather was too dazed by Leshawna's acting. Even HEATHER was tricked by Leshawna. I could feel my face contort from that of worry to anger.

"Fine. You can let her get the fucking reward; I wouldn't have enjoyed it ANYWAY. But know this, ALL OF YOU, GRIPS, CHRIS, KNOW THIS: I'm right. And when Leshawna is later exposed for her lie, I'll be there. I'll be shaking my head in shame because you didn't spot it sooner. And Leshawna, you MAY have gotten away this time, but what goes around comes around. Watch how you play this game, because it's only going to get worse if you're caught for the liar you fucking are." I sniffed the air, which still had a tinge of Owen's fart. "Get out of my fucking sight." And the sobbing Leshawna shuffled out of the studio.

The Gaffers glared at me. "You'll see that I'm right." I made my way to the main exit. "Everyone gets theirs sometime." And I left them, knowing full well I had probably lost my own trust and pissed off Tawny and Blaire to no end. But it didn't matter; I had considered Leshawna a friend. And for her to betray me like this…and for Heather to BUY IT…sometimes, I wonder why I'm not stomping on my teammates.

**

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**

Leshawna's POV

I can't believe her! Julie was so nice, and then suddenly, she somehow sees my trick! That girl must have X-ray vision or something. But they had still voted me off, and I was with Leshaniqua for the night! Life could not possibly get any better than this. I managed to keep a smile on my face through the fake tears when I jumped into the limo and into my cousin's lap.

"Girl, I cannot believe you've been crying! You never cry, not even at Mr. Bunny Rabbit's funeral!" I got out my makeup kit and started to wipe the ruined mascara and eyeliner off my face.

"You nuts? I was just making sure they'd vote me the hell out of here for the night."

"I knew it was too fool to be true!" I leaned back in the leather seat.

"A night away from Total…Drama…pain in my behind."

**

* * *

**

Chris's POV

I was watching the footage of Leshawna with her cousin, and sure enough, Julie was right. Leshawna had been lying to her teammates. I decided to film my "reaction" as a closer for when the episode went on air. I paused the footage at Leshawna's evil grin, and went into the camera view.

"Whoa! I hope they're going to exfoliate Leshawna's attitude at the spa! Or shove her morals in the sauna and give them a good detoxifying steam. So, will Leshawna come back with cleaner pores, or a crazy dirty conscience? Find out next time, on TOTAL…DRAMA…ACTION!" I was clear to act as normal after a few seconds, and went back to my cabin to enjoy a relaxing massage.

* * *

Bridgette: Hey everyone, and welcome to the TDAA stage!

Geoff: Yeah! We are SO psyched to be here!

Noah: We're here all the time, genius.

Katie: *gasps* Where's Trent?

Sadie: *gasps* Where's Gwen?

Tawny: I think they're still in that closet Nikki put them in a few chapters back...

Sadie: Then we need to get them out!

Tyler: I'll get them out with my skills! *Tyler runs off-stage*

Lane: Hey Bridgette, Geoff, thanks for keeping our seats warm.

Nikki: NOW GET OUT OF THEM!!! *crashes and screams from Tyler heard* What was that?

Lane: *scans couches* Where's Tyler?

Blaire: Went to go save Gwen and Trent from the closet--*Nikki zooms off-stage*

Nikki: I'M GONNA GET YOU TYLER!!!

Lane: So, the show! Right, um...updates flying faster, good ideas forming, blah blah blah...oh, new fanfic! That's right! I know not a lot of people review, but I'm planning to start up a re-interpretation of "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (great book by the way, pick it up sometime). Independent from this fic (which means no OCs), it's going to be the story with TDI characters. But I'll probably add in a few twists to make it interesting. There's going to be character death and a few illicit themes, not to mention a few crack couples (maybe) and a bit (or a lot, depending on the characters) of OOCness, so keep on a lookout for that. I'm still assigning character roles, but I need to know if you're okay with the OOCness and the crack couples and the story idea in general, your preferences and whatnot.

Noah: NO.

Lane: Did I ask for your opinion?!

Noah: ...no.

Lane: That's what I thought. So review please!


	29. Rainy Days

**A/N: **I know it's been a while. I'm horribly sorry. I hit a writer's block, and then I had stuff to take care of, and then I hit another writer's block, and I had MORE stuff to take care of. I still have stuff to take care of, actually, but I managed to get this done! There's more crossing over with Dollhouse, and a few references to Stoked (guess where!), and a few more blatant references to some interests I've taken up. "Jayma" is actually supposed to be a reference, but that's also something to be guessed.

Got thoughts you want to share? Want to comment on the latest bit of humor or reference that has been dropped? Just want to give a word of thanks? Well, that's what reviewing is for! Those anonymous reviews are also much appreciated, although I won't be able to reply back with words of thanks! And before I cap off this A/N, I just want to thank Total Drama Addict. Dudette, you ranked my series with Total Duncan Island AND Never Again?! Not to mention Total Drama Interactions?! To know that someone puts me at the level of those who I consider to be beyond me in writing...my lower jaw has dismembered itself from my upper jaw. There must be people out there who think this way, so I cannot stress it enough, THANK YOU. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Major thanks also goes to dichabite for the fic recommendation.

So review, disclaimer is in the first chapter. Things happen in the rain. A lot of things. Get reading!

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My POV

I went to bed that night an unhappy grumpy competitor. And I carried that attitude into my dream.

"All right Judge, or Adelle, or whoever the fuck you are, I want to know where I am."

Adelle calmly stood up and led me to the door. "Welcome to the Dollhouse." She opened the door, and what I saw was breathtaking in its own eerie way.

"What the—?" The Dollhouse was a spa-like building, with veneered wood floors, a small pond in the center, and a bunch of other sections of the room set aside for certain activities. There were also tall square lanterns that lit the entire level. No doubt that this was a very eco-friendly place. The level was filled with young, beautiful people, all seemingly without a care in the world. Some were doing tai-chi by the square pond in the center of the room, others were exercising in a fitness section, or shaping bonsai trees, or eating, and still others were getting massages. I turned to Adelle. "What the hell is this?"

The Judge's voice came out instead. "These people have had their personalities voluntarily removed. Their lives, their memories…all on hard drives up there." Adelle pointed up to a room with large glass windows, and there was a young blond looking down on us as though he were God.

I didn't know why the Judge was showing me this, but I had a pretty rough idea. "Is this supposed to tell me something? That erasing my memories and troubles is a good thing? There are people who love me, who care for me, who remember me! And I am not giving that up for anything." Was he trying to sway my decision for choosing whether or not to keep my memories at the end of TDA?

"It would be a life experience." He calmly explained.

Bullshit. "An experience I won't remember! Is erasing MY memory easier than erasing 24—no, COUNTLESS—memories?!" Adelle only looked at me with pensive green eyes, expecting me to already know the answer. "Of course," I smiled wryly. "I'm just one, little, insignificant person."

The Judge was gone, and Adelle's soothing British accent was back. "This isn't the end of your life." She started walking up a flight of stairs to the second floor where the blond man's office was.

"Then why does it feel like I'm already dying?!" I ran to catch up with her. We stopped before we entered the blond man's office.

Adelle didn't turn to face me when she said what she said next. "You have been preparing to hang yourself for a long time Julia. We are only assisting you in doing so."

That was absolute bullshit. "YOU BITCH!!!" I was about to say more, but another voice interrupted me.

"Julie!" It was Beth's voice. I rapidly snapped my neck around the now lit up trailer, my eyes somehow already adjusted to the light. I could see the worried face of Beth, the tired face of Lindsay, and the disgruntled face of Heather. Leshawna was still at the spa. "You were talking in your sleep, and you woke us all up."

"It's getting annoying! So shut it!" I realized how much I hated Heather for not being by my side when I needed her.

"Fine! You won't be bothered by me in your sleep!" I shoved myself under the covers, and I heard the light switch flick off. I went to sleep, but the Judge didn't pull me back into the dream. And even though I didn't like being there, anywhere was better than being here with the others.

**

* * *

**

**Courtney's POV**

"I—I don't know about this." Chase stuttered out. We were in the surveillance room for another hot, boring day of watching over all of the contestants.

"Chase," I began. "I don't have a lot of time. Lawsuits like these tend to be quick. Soon I'll be out there—" I pointed to the screen showing the two cast trailers. "Or still stuck in here." Chase muttered something under his breath, and I suspected he was back-talking me. "What did you say?"

"Nothing. Look, ever since the first Aftermath show ended, he's been tight on security. Even if I did manage to somehow get your plan to work, I wouldn't know how to get you back, just to get you out."

I frowned, trying to think of another way to make my plan work. "But you can do something with the signal, right?"

"He's been getting suspicious. I've had to do it so many times that I can no longer say that the signal is faulty, because then he might come himself. And even though Chris likes to stay comfy, he will check out a problem if he thinks it deserves it."

"It's just been a while since I've—"

"Made out with him?" Chase grinned. I gave him a hard punch to his shoulder.

"NO! As in, talk with him, find out why, what's wrong."

"But you have to admit, the making out is a plus." I unintentionally smiled at this comment, which made him smile. "I knew it."

I turned my mouth into a slight frown. "What would you do?" I stared at the two cast trailers, where he wasn't at the moment, but—

"I'd do whatever it takes to try to meet her if it were Tawny. But I don't recommend it for you."

"Why?"

"I have my reasons." He elbowed me. "Hey, you'll be there. At the trailers. The proof is solid and the proof from Harold's—" I gave him a stone cold glare. I had forbid him from saying his name, and here he goes breaking it!

Chase quickly realized his mistake though, so I didn't have to waste my energy away in a matter of minutes. "Sorry, the vile nerd's—elimination says what Chris doesn't want them to hear." Chase sighed and shook his head. "You cost the network a lot of money, you know that?"

I lay my chin in the palm of my hands and dreamily looked at the trailers. "Money talks. It's what my dad—never mind…" I whispered and cast my eyes down to the control panel. I had unintentionally brought up a bad memory that I didn't need to relive.

"Need any water?"

"Make sure it's cold—"

"I know!" Chase was outside of the room, and I went back to staring at the trailers. I would be there. I just know it.

**

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**

**Tawny's POV **

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!" Blaire fumed at Julie, who had winced slightly at her remark. "At the rate you're going, you're going to alienate everyone in sight, if you haven't done so already!"

"But she WAS lying!" Julie screamed right back. "The footage that Tawny saw of Leshawna proved that!"

"It doesn't mean you should go around pointing out every lie you see!"

"Maybe it does! I'm trying to look out for my teammates! If there's a liar, I'll weed out the liar!"

"Not everyone deserves saving! Some people deserve to suffer quietly!"

"Not these people! Even though they don't trust me as much as they used to, I was looking out for them! Now they don't believe me for the exact reason I can't trust all of them: they don't know what to expect."

Blaire refused to speak anymore. She made her way to the trailer door and opened it. She was showing Julie out, a scornful glare in her eyes. "Fine!" Julie spat. Before she left, she kept an even glare with Blaire. "But they DID deserve saving…even though the trust isn't mutual. I was just trying to help." And she ran out of the trailer, heading to who knows where. But I suspected it would be nowhere near this trailer.

"Let's go get something to eat, okay?" I took Blaire's hand and we walked out of the trailer to the Craft Services tent.

**

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**

**Harold's POV**

I was munching on a ham and Swiss sandwich that Chef had prepared for lunch. Not too long ago, the food started to taste fairly good and not bowel-wrecking at all. So now the Craft Services tent was a good place to talk and eat—or so it seemed when I looked at the Grips.

At our table, Heather complicated everything. And Duncan…GOSH! I still hate him for being such a bully. I've been the target of more of his pranks and insults lately. From messing with my shampoo to coloring in my glasses with a Sharpie, he just wouldn't stop, no matter how many times I told him to! DJ was nowhere to be found, which was usual lately, and Leshawna kept ignoring me. In fact, she was ignoring Duncan and me even more than she fought with Heather. Maybe it was because I hadn't agreed to her alliance? But she has to understand, I can't be in an alliance with Duncan! He's a no-good delinquent!

I observed Julie come into the tent, but something was wrong with her. She seemed dejected, as though she had gotten some depressing news. But even though I may notice this, I'm not going to help her. She slandered Leshawna! Anyone who does that is not qualified for any help from me! I looked at my fellow teammates. They seemed to react the same way, if not worse than I did. Where I was just observing, they were glaring, especially Leshawna. But Julie didn't seem to care. She just went to the buffet line, picked up a sandwich, and sat down opposite us, blankly looking down at her food. No one would voice it, but I'm sure everyone wanted to fire some sort of insult at her. Duncan, Heather, and Leshawna's eyebrows were all knitted together, and their eyes were fiery. I didn't like Julie for different reasons, but at least I didn't show it.

Julie slowly picked up her sandwich and started to eat it. Everything she did was slow, from her chewing to her blinking. "If you're going to say something," She spoke slowly too. "Say it to my face."

Heather scoffed. Duncan flipped out his pocket knife and started carving into the table. "You're betraying us." Heather snapped. "The one time when big butt was being truthful—"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY NOW?!" Leshawna yelled.

"I said big butt. Because you are one. I'm being truthful." Heather crossed her arms and looked away from Leshawna.

"Oh hell no!"

"As I was SAYING, the one time Leshawna was being truthful, you say she isn't. You either agree with us, or we kick you out."

"On what grounds?" Julie looked up at Heather, the blank look gone from her eyes.

"That you oppose us! If we don't have team-WORK, we can't function as a TEAM. And you either fix that or face elimination." Julie opened her mouth to speak, but Heather cut her off. "I don't care that you can help us win challenges; we can get along fine without you."

"Oh, and I suppose arguing with Leshawna is called "getting along fine"! Yeah, I can TOTALLY tell!" Julie had escalated the argument in a matter of seconds.

"Ladies, maybe you should be quieter…?" I offered.

"SHUT UP HAROLD!" Heather and Julie interjected.

"I'm done here." Julie picked up her half-eaten sandwich and walked out the tent.

"I'm not done with you!" Heather stood up and yelled at Julie. She turned around.

"Well I am! And I can act however the hell I please! So don't tell me what I can and can't do!" And Julie stormed out of the tent. Heather let out a frustrated groan before sitting back down at the table, and we went back to the usual silence of eating lunch.

**

* * *

**

**Justin's POV**

"Looks like the Gaffers are running into a few teamwork problems." I smirked. This was almost too good. With their team falling apart, we can win again!

"Is that a good thing?" Lindsay dumbly asked.

"Yes, it's a good thing. It means we can win." It also means I have a better chance of winning.

"Right…" Beth sighed.

"What's wrong Beth?" I asked her, trying to hypnotize her.

"Oh, um, I just—Julie looked so upset."

"But that's good. She's one of their key players; now they won't be as good of a team, and we'll be able to win the next challenge. Right everyone?" I looked around. Beth slowly nodded, Lindsay rapidly nodded, Owen was too busy scarfing down sandwiches, and Izzy…was gone. I knew I saw her somewhere. But she'd agree. I'd make her agree.

**

* * *

**

**Izzy's POV**

I sensed something was wrong with Julie when she came into the Craft Services tent. Ever since the medical challenge, she had shut up. It might have only been a day, but I had to talk to her. Even though she was on the opposing team, she was my friend first. Besides Owen, she was the only one who understood me. I found her sitting under the tree by the girls' trailer, her head down.

"Hey Julie!" I bounded over to her.

"E-Scope! Hi!" She got up quickly and blinked rapidly, but I could tell she had been crying. "What do you want?"

I wanted to confront her about what happened in the Craft Services tent, but something told me I shouldn't and that I should offer up something to do. "Let's play hide-and-seek!" We needed more people, but I didn't think she'd want anyone else. "I'll hide while you count to thirty! But you have to catch me—if you can!" I ran off into the many movie sets around the lot, but I still wish I could've talked to her. But if she wanted to avoid the subject, she wanted to avoid the subject. Nothing I can do about it. But then I felt a drop on my face when I reached the Western set, and I stopped. I looked up at the sky. Strange how it was cloudy, but I didn't notice it before. It got darker as more grey clouds covered the blue sky.

"Found you!" Julie ran up to me, laughing. "You didn't try to hide?" She stopped laughing. "I just felt a drop." And it turned into a drizzle, and the drizzle got harder. "We should go."

"We'll finish the game some other time! Race you to the trailers!"

"You're on!"

**

* * *

**

**Beth's POV**

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" I heard Lindsay scream from outside. She left only a second ago, saying that she wanted to go back to the trailers. She sounded close though. I got up from my seat and went to the exit, only to find a thick sheet of rain falling, and Lindsay was standing outside, getting soaked. "MY HAIR!!!!"

"What's going on out—whoa." Leshawna was right by my side now, observing the rain.

"It's raining?" I heard Justin's voice from behind me.

"Yup, summer thunderstorms are common around this time of year." Harold nodded.

"It's not a thunderstorm dick—" A roll of thunder interrupted Heather.

"You were saying?" Harold asked her. Lindsay was screaming again after hearing the thunder.

"Lindsay!" I didn't care about the rain as I ran out to her, my vision getting blurry as rain pelted my glasses. She was my best friend, and I had to do my best to be a good friend to her! "Let's get out of the rain!"

"MY CLOTHES AND MAKEUP ARE RUINED!!!" She sobbed as I guided her to the trailers.

**

* * *

**

**Duncan's POV**

"We can't stay in here." Harold commented. "Chef's here." He added in a low whisper. As though that was supposed to scare us. Chef seemed to hear Harold's comment, because he was now staring daggers into the back of Harold's head. I would have laughed, but the mood was too tense for that. Plus, Chef would probably kill me instead of Harold. And if that happens, I get no money.

"And you think we should get soaked outside?" Heather snapped back at him.

"I don't really feel like getting myself soaked after my spa treatment. Besides, water is not good for me." Leshawna added.

"ATTENTION CONTESTANTS! THERE IS A FREAK SUMMER STORM GOING ON NOW! GO BACK TO YOUR TRAILERS! I HOPE YOU BROUGHT AN UMBRELLA AND EXTRA CLOTHES!" Chris chuckled through the megaphone. Typical crappy sadistic host. Took him long enough to tell us it was raining AFTER we knew it was raining.

"You heard the man. We have to go back." I commented as I stepped outside of the tent, getting completely soaked, but I had extra clothes. I'd be fine.

**

* * *

**

**Chase's POV**

"Leave it to Mother Nature to screw us over during the show." I commented as I watched the contestants make their way to their trailers.

"And they don't have umbrellas!" Chris chuckled. "Misery is good for ratings! Too bad we can't broadcast this. Unless…"

"These summer storms tend to pass after a few hours. The misery will be of no use if we don't have a reliable storm." I added.

"Is that all you two think about?! Ways to torture the contestants?!" Courtney chided us. "They could get sick!"

"Chill out Court, it's a SUMMER storm. Notice how it's not COLD?"

"This behavior isn't helping you if you happen to win that lawsuit of yours, WHICH YOU WON'T! And it's not helping you if you don't want to help set up the challenges!" Chris grinned, which only made Courtney brim with anger.

"Do you keep umbrellas here?" She gritted her teeth.

"We do—BUT, you won't get one unless you apologize." Chris's grin didn't even flinch. Courtney scoffed. "For what?"

"For uh…for saying what you said!" Courtney rolled her eyes.

"Forget it. I have plenty of clothes with me." And she got up and walked in the rain toward her cabin.

**

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**

**Blaire's POV**

"At least we have umbrellas to use." I muttered as I heard the rain fall on the roof of the trailer.

"And we have snacks to eat!" Tawny chuckled.

"We don't have to stay here overnight you know." Tawny rummaged through a cardboard box and pulled out a bag of chips.

"But wouldn't it be FUN?" She opened the bag and popped a chip into her mouth. "It'd be like camping!" A spit-laden piece landed on my face, and I couldn't help but cringe in disgust.

"Manners Tawny?" I wiped the piece off my face. "Besides, camping in a makeup trailer, and on a film lot? I'd prefer to go back to my cabin and take a shower."

"Fine." She gnawed on another chip. "You should've been nicer." I got out a piece of gum, put it in my mouth, and started to chew it.

"Nicer to who?" I knew who she was talking about, but I played dumb. I didn't feel like talking about Julie.

"You know who." She pointed a chip at me, and shoved it in her mouth. "And no avoiding the subject, or I'll spit more crumbs at you." Now I had to talk with her. She wasn't joking; she would spit crumbs at me if I didn't talk.

"Okay, so maybe I could've been a little nicer with the wording and tone." Tawny only scoffed, spitting crumbs in a different direction in the trailer. "It's her fault! If she hadn't been so blatant with pointing out Leshawna's lie, maybe some people would have believed her!"

"And maybe she wouldn't be enraged if you hadn't pushed her! You know what comes after a huge fight? Grief, sadness, self-loathing, things Julie is probably going through right now. One day though, the Gaffers will learn the truth. You know why?" She waited for an answer from me.

"Karma." I scoffed at her, and she nodded.

"Everyone gets theirs sooner or later. And when it happens, things will go back to the way they were, with an uneasy trust and a stronger bond. It's how things work."

"Some crappy vicious cycle it is then." I grumbled.

"Yup." And Tawny, having finished her chips, trashed the bag into the trash can and proceeded to open another one to devour.

**

* * *

**

**Owen's POV**

"So…what do you guys want to do?" I twiddled my thumbs nervously and glanced at Duncan, Harold, and Justin. Since it was raining outside, we were stuck here in the trailer, and for a while, there was nothing to do until I asked everyone and broke the awkward silence that I hated.

"I have a pack of cards if anyone wants to play." Harold got out his cards.

"I have to start on my 12 step manicure—again—" Justin added with a glare at me. He messed up his last manicure after the medical challenge yesterday. "So no thanks."

"I've got better things to do than play cards with Doris." And Duncan jumped on his bunk and closed his eyes, seemingly taking a nap, while Justin started on his manicure.

"Let's play Go Fish!" I excitedly shook Harold.

"Okay. By the way, have you seen DJ lately?" Harold asked while he was shuffling the cards.

"No." I got out a platter of sandwiches I had taken before we left the Craft Services tent and offered it to Harold. "Want a sandwich?"

"Sure." He took one, and then I gulped down mine. "Let's play."

**

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**

**Heather's POV**

"Where did you go after you left the tent?" I asked Julie. I had my doubts about where her loyalties lay: me, the other contestants, or herself.

"I came here to sulk. That the answer you wanted?" Julie glared at me, but I couldn't tell if she was lying. All that mattered was that she couldn't be trusted. And for once, Leshawna seemed to agree with me.

I looked about the trailer. Lindsay and Beth were braiding each other's hair, and Izzy, Leshawna, Julie, and I had nothing to do.

"I still have my deck of cards."

"OOO!!! LET'S PLAY SPEED!" Izzy jumped off her bunk bed and ran to Julie, who was sitting on her lower bunk bed.

"All right then." She grinned and started shuffling the cards. As I was staring at the game of Speed Julie and Izzy were playing, I saw Beth and Lindsay eating something. I walked to them and stood over them for a few seconds, but they didn't pay attention to me. I rolled my eyes and started talking.

"You two sheep have food?" I incisively remarked.

"Lefonda—" Lindsay started to answer my question, but was interrupted.

"LESHAWNA!" Leshawna yelled, muffled by her eating something.

"Oh right! Well, she gave us these sandwiches that she took from the Craft Services tent." I started to reach for a sandwich Beth had piled on a plate.

"Oh no, you're not getting any from us. You have to go ask Leshawna for some." Beth pulled the plate of sandwiches away from me, and she and Lindsay went back to braiding each other's hair. I turned around to face Leshawna, but I found Izzy and Julie munching on sandwiches and playing a different card game, apparently, Go Fish.

"And I say no, you're not getting any Heather." Leshawna started to eat another sandwich.

"Fine! I don't care! I'll just go without food!" But they all seemed to ignore my implied pleas for some food. And worse, I started getting even hungrier than before.

**

* * *

**

**DJ's POV**

I walked into the trailer for the night thoroughly soaked after Chef had me constantly toughening me up and cooking for him. I was tired after Chef's grueling workout reminiscent of the army that he had me do in the rain. I tried to slip in quietly, but there were questions to be answered.

"Hey DJ." Harold smiled and went back to playing cards with Owen.

"Where have you been?" Duncan asked in a suspicious tone. Now I had to lie, which I hate doing.

"Oh…nowhere." Duncan didn't seem to believe me, so I had to think of a fake explanation. "I, uh…I was walking around the film lot when it started raining, and when I tried to find my way back, it got too dark to see, and I got a little lost."

"A little?" Duncan scoffed. "You've been gone for hours."

"Hours?" I faked shock. "I've been gone longer than I thought! What time is it?" I knew what time it was, but I had to play the role if I wanted to keep up the lie.

"Around nine." Harold calmly answered. Chef! He lied to me! His clock said it was eight!

**

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**

**Leshawna's POV**

"How are we supposed to get food when it's POURING outside?" Heather asked all of us in the trailer the next morning. And worse, the summer storm hadn't passed yet.

"We'll have to walk in the rain." Julie answered. "We're bound to have something that can give us shelter from the rain. Not an umbrella, but something."

"Did I ask you?" Heather glared at her. I couldn't blame her this time. I was still bitter from Julie pointing out my lie. But at least no one believed her. Then again, the girl did have a point; we have to use some sort of shield to get to the Craft Services tent for food.

"Julie's right." Beth dared to defend her. "We should use something to protect us from the rain. We don't have jackets…maybe…maybe we can use towels!"

"Say what now?" I didn't understand what Beth was saying, and Heather and Lindsay didn't either.

"Back home on my farm, sometimes, when there was a summer storm, I'd have to use one of the larger rags to shelter myself from the rain because there were no umbrellas in certain buildings on the farm."

"I think it can work." Julie nodded. "Besides, we either do that or we starve." We had eaten all of the sandwiches I had swiped from the tent the day before. "And we all have towels for showering with. It can work."

"I'll go first!" Izzy leaped off her bunk, a towel in her hand, and she flung the door wide open and charged out of the trailer with a yell and with the towel over her head. "THIS IS FUN!!!" All of us, even Heather, grabbed our towels and walked over to the Craft Services tent for breakfast.

**

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**

**Courtney's POV**

I exited the bathroom after a good, warm wake-up shower. As I was dressing, my stomach growled.

"At least today will be a good day to practice my fasting." I couldn't go outside to get food from the Craft Services tent; I had no umbrella, and I didn't want to get more of my clothes wet. I eyed yesterday's clothes draped from a stainless steel towel holder, still drying from my walk in the rain after refusing to apologize to Chris. In retrospect, maybe I should've apologized to Chris for the sake of saving my clothes. But I was too full of pride, and my pride, along with my grades and my future, is the most important thing I hold dear to my heart. Well…I guess Duncan does somewhat count…but my parents would never let me hold him dear to my heart. Maybe my father would, but in his state, his opinion wouldn't matter. I wonder how they reacted to my actions in TDI and the "reunion show", as Chris dubbed it…maybe they were going to give me a humongous scolding when I came home. But then TDA happened, and…I haven't been in contact with them for a few months now. I hope they're not too worried about me…

I finished dressing when there was a knock at the door. "Who is it this time…?" I walked to the door and carefully opened it, only to find Chase huddled under his own blue umbrella.

"Hey Court. Thought you might be hungry, so—"

"I'm not going to walk with you to get food. I'm not that hungry." And just then, my stomach emitted a loud growl. Chase smirked. "Okay, maybe I am. But that does not mean I'm going to walk with you."

"You should've let me finish my sentence. I thought you might be hungry, SO…I got you your own umbrella." He handed me a thin, clear umbrella.

"Chase—" Needless to say, I was shocked. He was actually being extremely kind for a change!

"You'll have to thank Tawny for it. She's very eccentric, actually." He smiled when he started to talk about her. I guess that was deep love, love I wish Duncan would show to other people when I was alone and tired and reading a good book.

"Eccentric?" I wondered how Tawny was more eccentric than I had already seen.

"She has a collection of umbrellas. Parasols, small umbrellas, giant ones, it's a pretty big collection. She bought two clear umbrellas at Niagara Falls when she only needed one, so she's been waiting to give it to someone. I guessed that you didn't bring an umbrella to TDI, since its summer, so we had a talk, and she thought I should give it to you."

I looked down at the umbrella and turned it in my hand. "Uh…thank you Chase." I'll have to thank Tawny later.

"So…are you going to get something to eat?"

"Yes." Chase stepped out of the doorway as I opened the umbrella and stepped outside. I closed the cabin door after me and walked to the tent, carefully avoiding the puddles in the ground.

At the tent, I found Tawny picking up a few brownies and a latte. "Tawny!" I whispered to her when I was standing next to her in the buffet line.

"Hi Courtney! How's it going?" She grinned her usual grin, and I remembered how much she reminded me of Izzy.

"Um…thanks." She quirked an eyebrow at this, but kept smiling.

"For what?"

That's strange. I thought she would readily accept my thanks. "For the umbrella Chase gave me. He said it was a spare from your collection of umbrellas."

"I don't have a collection of umbrellas!" We both glanced at Chase, who was quietly picking up a mug of coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage. I noticed a small smile on his face, which Tawny apparently noticed too, since she started smiling too. "Oh, I see what happened here."

"What?" I was a little panicked now. "Did he bug the umbrella with a recorder?!"

"No silly! I'll let you in on a little secret: although he seems like a very bold and confident guy with a wit to match Noah's, he's actually very shy around people he doesn't know well or hasn't seen before."

"Uh huh…" I was still confused. What did this have to do with anything?

"He realized that to get girls, he had to be nice, but since he was shy, he always acted generous to them, but denied he was the mastermind behind it. He'd always claim Gordon was the one doing it. You know who, the camera guy."

"Right." I nodded, still somewhat confused.

"He charmed me that way. So after he became my boyfriend, he stopped doing these nameless deeds for a while. When he met Blaire though, and really got to know her, they started again. He'd always let me in on his little plans, and made sure to give credit to me for coming up with whatever deed he was doing. He's done it for Blaire a few times, but she doesn't know he was the one who did everything, and he wants to keep it that way."

"Why?"

"He likes mystery and anonymity. He's a multi-layered guy; a guy that I love!"

"I still don't get it." To be honest, I really didn't. I was actually a little tired now, but it was an interesting story.

"Oh you silly girl!" That got me awake again, and I managed a weak glare at her. "What? You're 16, I'm 21. I'm older than you by five years. But that's not the point. The point is he's being nice and generous because he considers you a good friend, a dear friend."

"Not as in a…love relationship?" I ventured to ask, hoping I didn't hurt Tawny's feelings.

"Nope. Totally platonic." Well, that's a relief! "It's more of a sibling relationship. You have siblings, right?"

"Only child." I meekly replied.

"Oh. Well, he's more like a big brother to you." She looked at her food, ready to gulp it down like Owen. She looked up at me though, taking her attention away from her food. "I'll see you later, right?"

"Later today, sure. I'll be here the whole time. I'm bound here."

"Right. Well, bye!" And after she disappeared from sight, I opened my umbrella and walked back to my cabin to eat my breakfast.

**

* * *

**

**Lindsay's POV**

I was busy teaching Beth how to paint nails by herself today. I taught her how to braid my hair yesterday. She needed more practice with braiding, but at least she knows the basics! I felt something wet touch my fingers, and I let out a squeak.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Beth was painting my nails mortar gray, and I looked down to my fingers. Some of the polish got on my fingers!

"Beth! You need to be more careful with the brush. Show me how you hold it." When she held it, her fingers were trembling. "Stop that!" I steadied her hand. "Now," I held out my other hand. "Paint." She was about to paint when I heard Izzy (I think that's her name) say something.

"Whoa!" I heard a thud, and Beth put away the polish, got up, and started walking to the other side of the trailer.

"Beth!" I got up and followed her. Lefonda, Heather, Jayma, and now Beth and I were gathered around the table in our trailer.

"I found it in the cabinets of the trailer!" Izzy excitedly told us. There was this strange thing on the table.

"What is it?" I asked Izzy. Jayma slammed a large cardboard box on the table filled with other thin pieces of paper in it, or what I thought was paper.

"It's a record player." She started looking through the cardboard box.

"What's it doing here?" Lefonda asked Jayma.

"It's probably another trap set by Chris." Heather sharply said. Good thing I'm not friends with her anymore! She's such a bitch!

"What would Chris do with a record player?" Lefonda asked all of us.

"Maybe it's part of a challenge!" I thought out loud. Heather and Lefonda looked at me as though I were crazy. "Well, it could be!"

"My parents have a collection of records!" Beth went to Jayma's side and started looking through the box. "Wait, I don't know any of these records!" She started pulling out some of the things in the box. One had the words 'The Beatles' on it, another had 'The Mamas and the Papas', then 'The Carpenters', 'Doris Day', 'Louis Armstrong', 'Edith Piaf', 'Bing Crosby', 'Mama Cass', and then Jayma stopped her.

"I know these artists!" She picked up one that said 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' and 'Mama Cass' and stared at the cover for a long time. She then pulled out what looked like a large black CD and turned it over in her hands before looking at Beth. "Beth, do you know how to play a record?"

"Sure. This song is the A-side, so you have to put it on with the side that has the A-side title in the center." She took the CD from Jayma and placed it on the player. "Turn it on…" The CD started spinning on the record player. "And place the needle on it." The needle was on the CD, and sound started to play. The song made me miss Tyler so much! I'm not so sure why though.

**

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**

**Chef's POV**

Another rainy day. It's probably going to be the same tomorrow. I entered my cabin after a long day of coaching DJ to be manly and tough. My favorite thing to do when I want to relax is to listen to my records on a record player my father gave me. When I looked at the table I normally had my records and record player on, there was nothing there. Someone had stolen my records! I let out a low growl, thinking of who would steal my possessions. Only one person came to mind.

"Chris." I didn't care about the rain as I sprinted out of my cabin. All I cared about was punching my friend's face in. He may have partly caused the suicide of my girlfriend, but stealing my things? He's taken his obsession with this reality show too far. I ran into the surveillance tent, breathing hard from running.

"Hey dude, what's wrong?" Chris asked, not looking at me at first and instead watching the surveillance screens. When I saw his eyes glance at me, the happiness faded from his voice. "Oh…you don't look too happy."

"Damn right I'm not happy! You remember my record player and collection of records?!"

"Yeah…the ones with all of the sissy music, right?" I let out a low growl at my friend's remark. It wasn't all sissy music; it just happened to be the collection my dad had. "Okay, okay, it's not ALL sissy! Just don't hurt me!!!" He cleared his throat. "So, why do you ask?"

"Someone stole them! And I'm betting it was you." I advanced toward him, ready to give him a good right hook punch.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!! I didn't steal your records! Besides, no offense dude, but your records aren't the kind of music I listen to." He shifted in his seat as he said this, and I realized he was telling the truth.

"All right." I lowered my fist.

"Maybe it was one of the interns or someone on the camera crew. I can tell you that it wasn't me though!"

"I expect a raise for the trouble you've put me through." I glowered at him before walking back out into the rain. As I was about to, he stopped me.

"A raise?! Can't you just beat up one of the crewmembers or something?!" I glared and growled at him once more. "Fine, a raise it is." He grumbled. Satisfied, but at the same time angry at whoever stole my records, I walked back out into the rain and back to my cabin. Looks like I'm not going to be sleeping well until I have my records back.

**

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**

**Third Person POV**

The next morning brought Chef none of his records or his record player, no forgiveness for Julie, and a continuous downpour of rain, the crash-bang-boom of thunder, and the flash-flash-flash of lightning. DJ was nowhere to be found, for he had been woken up at 4 in the morning to train with Chef and was now making scrambled eggs and pancakes for the hungry contestants. However, not everyone was willing to go outside, even with their growling stomachs.

"Owen, it's okay." Harold tried to coax him from under his covers. Owen had a phobia of continuous lightning and thunder due to an incident in a summer storm when he was a kid.

"I'M NOT GOING OUT THERE!" Owen yelled from under the covers.

"Just leave the big guy. I'm not going to starve because he's too scared to go outside." Duncan scoffed, looking outside at the sheet of rain falling and hearing the thunder.

"Will you guys get me my breakfast? I'm not going out and risking wet hair." Justin commented from his bunk because he was looking at himself in a small circular mirror.

"No way pretty boy. If you want food, you're going to have to get it yourself." Duncan scanned the gray scenery. "Where the fuck is DJ?" He whispered to himself before momentarily focusing his attention on Harold, who was now trying to pull Owen out from under the baby blue blanket.

Duncan, deciding it was useless to try and pull Owen out from anywhere, made the choice to voice his opinion to Harold. "Hey Doris, you're not going to get anywhere doing that."

"It's—worth—a—shot—GOSH!" Harold's reply was accentuated by panting and grunts of wimpy strength, but Owen would not budge.

"I'm out of here." Duncan, caring even less about the rain than Harold's plight, opened the door to the trailer and walked into the falling water, letting it seep into his skin.

Meanwhile, another contestant refused to walk outside due to their fears of being struck by lightning, and two others were hesitant about walking outside again. Izzy was long gone, digging underground looking for her prairie dog family.

"That thunder is REALLY scary!" For once, Lindsay was speaking correctly and not confusing lightning and thunder.

"You have to learn not to fear it. It's far away, so there's no chance the lightning will hit you." Beth tried to coax Lindsay from her bunk.

"Lightning can hit me?!" She wailed in agony, and Beth slapped her hand to her face.

"Aw damn!" Leshawna's stomach growled.

"Can you be quiet?" Heather spat.

"Can you shut your trap?" Leshawna reciprocated.

Julie decided to step in. Enough was enough. "Okay! This arguing has GOT to stop!" She pushed the two girls apart, and they pushed back.

"Why are you telling us what to do?!" Leshawna pointed accusingly at Julie.

"Loudmouth is right. You have no right to tell us what to do." Heather also pointed accusingly at Julie.

Julie closed her eyes and sharply inhaled through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth. Finally, she opened her eyes, a fire in them.

"All right. If you two are STILL angry at me for "betraying you", you're both selfish bitches. We have an elimination challenge tomorrow, and we need to pull ourselves together so we can win. I may not have a right to tell you to put aside your differences, but I DO have the better part of a brain to warn you both to do so. If you can't work together for even a second, neither of you are going to be surviving for much longer in the competition. You're arguing over someone's hunger! That is absolutely foolish and fucked up. If you're really that hungry, just suck up your damn pride and go out and get some breakfast! As for me, I'm leaving you two for now. By tomorrow, I expect—rather, I would like, if it makes you feel better—to see you two getting along better than you have been for the past four days and also being more supportive of the team." Julie went to grab her white towel to shield herself from the rain. "The team is the ONLY way you're going to get far, and if you don't utilize it, I will have to take some drastic measures. I'll see you two in the Craft Services tent." And she opened the door and held the towel over her head as she disappeared into the gray.

"Girl's got a point." Leshawna commented.

"Truce for now." Heather agreed, and the two got their towels and walked outside to the tent. But truthfully, neither girl meant what they said.

"Lindsay, I'll get you some breakfast, okay?" Beth reached for her brown towel.

"Thank you so much Beth!" Lindsay shrunk deeper into the shadows of the bottom bunk. Beth let out a sigh before walking outside, nearly slipping on the steps, but closing the door behind her, leaving Lindsay in the dim light of the trailer.

"It's dark, and I'm scared." Lindsay squeaked out before lying on her bed and curling into a ball.

With Chris, Chase, Chef, and Courtney gone for the day due to the lawsuit, Blaire, Tawny, Gordon, and the rest of the camera crew (also serving as the staff) were free from the sadistic chuckle of Chris and the life-squeezing clutch of Chef. However, since it was the day before a challenge, the staff/camera crew was locked in a studio lot preparing the next day's challenge. Sets required positioning, Scream-o-Meters required perfecting, and props required cleaning.

Meanwhile, on top of the fake hill, Blaire, Tawny and Gordon, clad in army green waterproof ponchos, were setting up another set, and also a trick Chris would be demonstrating the next day to the contestants.

"It's one thing to have us stay cooped up in the confessional," A wet metal rod slipped from Blaire's hands. "Crap!" She picked up the rod again. "But it's quite another to have us set up a challenge in the rain!"

"I didn't even get my breakfast yet!" Tawny whined, louder than the thunder that had just crashed.

"Isn't metal a magnet for lightning anyway?" Blaire mused aloud.

"Yeah. Chris doesn't care about our well-being though." Gordon stepped away from the now complete set.

"Well, I care about mine!" Blaire shot back, venting some of her anger towards Julie out loud.

"We're done! Breakfast time!" Tawny sped down the hill like a bullet, and Blaire sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You'll set up the stunt, right?"

"Sure." Gordon nonchalantly replied, and Blaire nodded and began to walk down the hill. "If I had a week! There are mechanisms to check and targeting to make sure is correct…and not to mention avoiding the lightning…!" Gordon kept rambling on about his plight as he went to work on Chris's stunt.

As the final day before the challenge wore on with the contestants (except for DJ; he had strict orders from Chef to stay in the kitchen) staying cooped up in the trailers and keeping to themselves, the gray changed into dark blue, almost black. The change in scenery also brought Chris, Chef, Chase, and Courtney back to their home away from home. Chef was about as short tempered as Courtney was, for he still did not have his records back, and although Chris was dog-tired (evidenced by falling asleep at the wheel a number of times), he had to check with Gordon to make sure the stunt worked AND he had to talk with his lawyer, who was sitting in the front seat of the five-seat car. Chase was unluckily sandwiched between the two short-tempered people on the way back from the courthouse.

Once the car was parked, the five passengers went their separate ways. Chris and his lawyer set off to Chris's personal cabin, Chef left for the Craft Services tent, and Chase and Courtney left the car last, heading to the surveillance tent and their cabin, respectively. All five had their own thought trains and personal worries in the midst of the summer storm.

Chris and his lawyer both shared the fear that they might genuinely lose the latest lawsuit. There was quite a bit of evidence indicating their wrongful termination of competition back in TDDDDI, also known as the reunion show. Chris was particularly worrisome about the tab he was running as of late, with his personal luxuries, hiring his lawyer, gas, pay for his staff/camera crew, and the possible money he could lose by letting Courtney win. The lawyer, on the other hand, was warmed by the thought of having chosen to pursue a career in law over medicine, for he was now earning over a hundred dollars an hour by servicing the network. Not to mention, he owned a nice beach house in British Columbia, near the best place in Canada to catch some waves, Sunset Island. As the two talked strategy in court, these thoughts ran circles in their minds.

Chef waded through shallow puddles and muddy grass to get back to the tent, where DJ was busily making sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch. Chef had already made the decision to test DJ immediately, hiding in the shadows of the kitchen. DJ was only slightly scared of lightning and thunder, so he merely stopped making sandwiches, but did not turn around when lightning illuminated the hiding Chef in the shadows. However, DJ was still scared of loud and sudden noises, so when Chef gave a command to DJ to defend himself, all DJ did was throw a harmless spoon at Chef and cower in place. Chef, much to DJ's surprise, clapped for him. DJ took this opportunity to voice thoughts that had been plaguing him for weeks.

"Maybe it's time to stop cheating." This solicited a glare from Chef, but DJ continued nevertheless. "Being in this alliance with you, it makes me feel all kinds of wrong inside."

"This is not about right or wrong son." Chef had taken to calling DJ that lately. "It's about you and me winning that cool mill." Chef did have a point; that "cool mill" was certainly something to work toward. But even then, he'd only get half of that money if he did win.

"I—I still don't know about this."

Chef calmly nodded, already making up his mind as to what to do with DJ for the rest of the night. "I'm going to make you decide! Get out there and start running laps!"

"Again?!" DJ whined.

"NOW MAGGOT NOW!!!!" DJ took a glance at the sandwiches he had prepared for tomorrow's lunch.

"You'll put these in the—?"

"I SAID NOW SON, NOW!!!!" That was enough to scare DJ out of the tent and into the rain, running laps for his life.

While DJ was running laps, with Chef inside the tent indulging in a sandwich before heading out and running alongside DJ, Courtney was changing into her pajamas, no longer the royal purple silk gown of happier times—times with Duncan—long past, but a short pink spaghetti strap top that greatly exposed her midriff, and equally pink short shorts. The trials had been especially grueling that day, and she needed a good night's rest.

_A book would do me some good._ So she picked up a new book to read, for she had finished the previous one, _**5 Steps To a 5 On the AP Microeconomics Exam**_. This book was a borrowed one from Blaire, who loved her literature almost as much as she loved her anime, a book she had never heard of called _**Howl's Moving Castle**_. Blaire claimed it was very good, "enchanting, in fact; it would make someone have a heart", in her words. Courtney was, at the time, desperate for a book to read (she had tired of the AP Exam books she had brought with her), so she gently turned the small paperback book over in her hands before thanking Blaire and leaving her cabin.

Courtney read out loud most of the first chapter of the book, using affected voices to the best of her ability. But then she reached a particular part of the book. "And when a young man in a fantastical blue-and-silver costume spotted Sophie and tried to accost her as well, Sophie shrank into a shop doorway and tried to hide." Courtney stopped reading out loud, and read the next page to herself. "Oh! Blaire recommend a romance novel! It's so predictable! If he was that Wizard Howl—UGH!!!" Courtney threw the book onto the thin covers of the bed with a dulled thud.

Courtney despised a lot of things, mostly people. Duncan, Chase, Chef, Heather, Owen and Chris easily topped her hate list. But romance novels were right under those people. She mostly hated the fantastical plots, the damsel in distress, and the strapping young man that would whisk her away—all in a little under 300 pages of text. The summary did not say anything about romance (although it was implied), and she never liked magic. She considered taking the book back to Blaire, but it was around 10 PM and still pouring outside…she didn't want to ruin her pajamas.

Courtney sighed. Now she couldn't go to sleep, even if she tried. The mysterious plot wouldn't let her rest. So, with much reluctance, she read to herself the rest of the book.

Chase had an hour left before he could go back to his cabin and rest. For now, he was stuck watching the contestants mill about within their trailers.

Beth and Lindsay were painting each others' nails. Heather and Leshawna were arguing, and Julie covered her ears, a deathly scowl on her face. This, in turn, caused her to lose a card game, and Izzy bounced on the bed giddily. Izzy and Julie started up their game again, and Leshawna and Heather turned away from one another, refusing to speak. Beth and Lindsay were STILL painting each others' nails.

Chase shifted his attention to the guys' screen. DJ was, as usual, nowhere to be found. Harold and Owen were ALSO playing a card game, different from the one Julie and Izzy were playing. Justin was flexing his muscles, and Duncan was carving yet another skull into the wall. _That would make it his tenth skull. _They remained doing the same thing for five minutes. Chase, bored with their actions, shifted his attention back to the girls' trailer.

That's when he noticed a record player. Specifically, the record player he had stolen from Chef and given it as a message to Julie to tell her to relax. He had seen the argument between her and Blaire, and Julie could certainly use some cheering up. He made a note to creep into the trailer that night and steal the records back. Chef seemed extremely cranky today, so his records should help, Chase concluded.

An hour later, the contestants (except for DJ), Chase, Chris, Tawny, Blaire, and Gordon were all asleep. A half hour after that, Courtney finished reading the borrowed book. Her dreams were mainly about an 18 year old woman with red gold hair, a 27 year old heartless wizard (that age difference sent a chill up her spine for a few personal reasons), a 15 year old apprentice, a fire demon, a dog, and a scarecrow with a turnip for a head.

There was one, though, with seven-league boots, taking Courtney far away from the lawsuit, the annoying host, her family, and the excuse of a relationship she had with Duncan. She just kept walking, but when she wanted to stop and turn around, to go back to everything she held dear, she couldn't find her way back. When she managed to stop, she was far away from home, and all she could do was break down and cry, hoping a wind could "serve to advance an honest mind" and bring her back home.

* * *

Geoff: Welcome back to the TDA Aftermath Stage!

Bridgette: We're live, ready to interview our latest subject!

Geoff: Please, let's give it up for Lane!

Lane: Hey, I'm the host here! You can't interview me! That's breaking host-guest star rules!

Geoff: We're in charge of the show dudette!

Lane: But I'm the one in charge of THIS show!

Geoff: Not this time.

Bridgette: So Lane, tell us. Why the references to music and books?

Lane: Fine. I'll entertain your questions. The references are just passing fancies. I feel like incorporating them into writing, and so I do.

Bridgette: But what about Dollhouse? That has been a recurring reference lately.

Lane: That's not a passing fancy. That's an addiction. *looks around* Hey, have you seen Nikki anywhere?

Katie: Oh, she still has Trent and Gwen locked in the closet.

Sadie: Poor Trent!

Cody: Poor Gwen! I'd save her, but I've been strapped to my seat. It seems we all are.

Noah: We were bound here after Courtney tried to escape.

Courtney: YOU CAN'T KEEP ME HERE! I WAS--

All: A CIT, WE KNOW!!!

Eva: *grumbling under breath* Stupid CIT talk.

Lane: *glances down at wrist* Oh, would you look at the time! Seems you've run out of time to interview me! I would love to stay and chat some more, believe me, I would, but I have...*hears a crash and shouting from Nikki* things to take care of. I'm sure you understand.

Geoff: Hey, wait! *Lane has already left* Crap.

Bridgette: *whispers to Geoff* We'll get her next time. *out loud* Seems our guest has run off! She'll stick around for a longer interview next time on TDAA Stage!

Geoff: Review dudes and dudettes!


	30. Horror Fright Fest

**A/N: **Thirtieth chapter! Cool! But snap! I haven't updated in...ten months. Holy cow. For anyone who alerted/watched carefully, I'm sorry, even more so than last time. Not only did I have real life stuff, I also lost my purpose with this fic. I guess with TDA being completed and me getting into prime time TV again, I sort of lost my drive. But with Total Drama World Tour (TDW for short because the extra T doesn't jive with the three letter acronym so common in the TD franchise) premiering in less than a week now, I figured I might as well play catch-up. I've been settling back into a writing groove, and now that I've been running into writer's blocks with my other fics, I can get back to this.

It's weird, actually. These are my roots in fic writing, and I totally forgot them. I guess it's a back to basics thing. I need to get back to where I started. So as a result, any grammar errors (such as the whole quotes thing which I've noticed in my ten month break) and styles that I maintained back when I was updating regularly have been kept. That way, I don't shock too many people with a sudden change. I'd prefer to let the plot do that, thank you very much. And I think you'll be shocked by where I've taken this fic.

Disclaimer is in the first chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

By the next afternoon, things had settled into a somewhat normal way of life. For one thing, around midnight, the rain had stopped, and by 2 AM, Chef was reunited with his records. However, he was still not a happy camper because it was a challenge day, a day to toughen DJ up.

The ground was relatively dry (summer heat had dried it quickly), and the teams worked together to haul out a wood table and benches, a poolside chair, and a soccer ball Duncan had brought with him to TDI in the event of an off-day.

Julie, Izzy and Owen were playing Go Fish, and Leshawna and Harold were playing another card game. Izzy soon made a show of shuffling the cards, and Julie shuffled the same deck soon after. This turned into a heated game of "Who Can Shuffle Cards in a Cooler Fashion" rather than Go Fish, which solicited a few looks of astonishment from Harold and Leshawna. Heather was relaxing in the chair, and Justin and Duncan were getting along somewhat and kicking around the soccer ball. DJ, tired from last night's workout with Chef, decided to take a nap in the sun, and fell asleep on the grass, stuffed gray bear in hand. Justin and Duncan decided to kick the soccer ball to each other by bouncing it off DJ's butt. DJ was too tired to know this was taking place.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Izzy and Julie think they're so cool. But did they spend three whole entire summers at Magic Steve's Magic Camp? Allow me to demonstrate my mad magic skills by producing THE ACE OF SPADES!" When Harold saw what the picture was, to Tawny and Blaire's extreme dissatisfaction, started to laugh. "Oh, hey, how did that get in there?" He looked over at the still dissatisfied Tawny and Blaire. "I think this belongs to you." He left the ladies with the picture they slipped in his pocket: a still of the guys' prank on Harold back in TDI.

* * *

Leshawna had, once again, stolen some sandwiches from the tent for everyone to eat, even Julie and Heather. Lindsay was now holding the red box of sandwiches. "I can't believe you managed to steal these from lunch!" Lindsay commented to Leshawna before eating a half of a sandwich. "Yummers!"

Suddenly, Beth came running into the vicinity. "I call this," She charged in with a one handed cartwheel, and no one quite knew how she was doing it. "The Egg Salad Firework!" She then launched herself up into the air, and landed with a split. "Drumroll!" She then threw eight sandwiches stolen from lunch up into the air, ready to eat them. Owen, spotting the delicious food, ran and caught the sandwiches before they fell down Beth's throat. He then, with unprecedented speed, ran to every other contestant and gave them a sandwich. "Owen, stop stealing my sammies!"

Owen had done this once before already, and 16 sandwiches had been collectively digested by the other contestants due to this. "What are you talking about?" Owen chuckled nervously, sounding muffled due to the food in his mouth.

"You disgust me Owen!" Leshawna added, chewing on a sandwich, with Harold nodding in agreement.

"Yeah!" Heather had half a sandwich in her hand. "What kind of pig are you?"

"You're ALL stealing them?" Beth yelled, unheeded by anyone.

"Chef's food has gotten SO good! MmmMMM!" Justin smiled, mouth full of sandwich, and was interrupted by DJ's snoring. DJ was dreaming about his talk with Chef, which caused him to contort his face into one of guilt. None of the contestants realized this though.

Beth and Lindsay were standing by DJ, eating Leshawna's sandwiches. "This is fun, huh Bestie? Imagine if there was no challenge today!" Beth beamed at Lindsay.

"Oh my gosh, we could totally just hang out! And braid each others' hair! I would love that Bestie!" Lindsay didn't want to be inside though; she preferred being outside in the sun. After three days of cowering in fear of lightning and thunder, a sunny day was a godsend.

"Some of us are trying to keep up our strength to actually win the competition." Heather approached her former alliance mates, half a sandwich in hand, and turned away in scorn. This solicited a glare from Beth.

Lindsay's smile fell from her face. "We don't think there is one today." Heather's eyes went wide in shock; Chris was pretty late today, and considering his predictability by being unpredictable, Lindsay could quite possibly be right. However, Heather kept her cruel façade up in front of Lindsay and Beth.

"There better be. I am here to win a million dollars," She started to walk away, but did so by crossing Beth and Lindsay. "And the faster I eliminate you two pathetic, spineless followers, the better."

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"You see those little bumps back there?" Lindsay pointed at a picture of her X-ray from her physical before coming to TDI. "Those are totally a spine! I'm not a follower! Like at Cheerleading, I'm right in the middle of the pyramid and when all my sisters and I decide on something, like where to go shopping or whatevs, I'm always the third vote! That's not bad!"

"You have two sisters, including yourself. That's three." Blaire pointed out.

Lindsay put a hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh. Well I can change if that's okay with you guys!" Blaire facepalmed in frustration. Working with the mentally challenged was tough.

* * *

Chris was very late for one reason and one reason only: he had overslept. Last night was taxing for him, and now he had to go up to the hill and get ready for some stunt magic. Dressed up and ready to go, he went over to the surveillance tent and made his announcement. "ATTENTION ALL TOTAL DRAMA VICTIMS! PLEASE MEET ME IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STUDIO-PALOOZA! BRING LOZENGES…THE SCREAMING'S GONNA HURT." Chris shut off the intercom and chuckled to himself. "Who in their right mind brought lozenges? Damn, I'm awesome!"

"That you are Chris." Chase mumbled. He was a little miffed; he kept having dreams about awful things happening to the people he cared about on the film lot. He soon became mystified though, for he couldn't find Courtney. "Hey, where's Courtney?"

"Not my problem dude. Find her yourself." Chase was about to argue that she WAS his problem, but Chris had already left for announcing the latest challenge. He certainly couldn't leave his post, so finding Courtney would have to wait.

"Oh…there IS a challenge." Beth gulped down her sandwich and put her hand to her chin. "Just promise we can still do the hair braiding?" She looked up at Lindsay, still holding the box of sandwiches.

"I think I'll do a French!"

At the same time, another conversation was occurring as the group slowly separated into their teams as they trudged up the hill. "What do you think the challenge's gonna be?" Izzy, who seemed to have boundless amounts of energy, ran circles around a still somewhat glum Julie.

For some reason, Julie couldn't seem to let go of what happened in the latest challenge. It was a horrible flaw of hers in her other life in the real world, but now she was seriously doubtful if that indeed was the REAL world. It seemed familiar, yet foreign now. "I don't know. But if there's screaming…I can think of horror movies. That's scream-inducing." Julie indeed had no clue what the genre was for the day. After her recent argument with Blaire, she hadn't taken the time to go and set things right again, even in the rain. Julie's flaws were coming back at a rapid rate, and there seemed to be no way to stop them.

**

* * *

Beth's POV**

We were separated in our teams at the top of the hill. It looked almost the same as it did during the film challenge. Now Heather was pacing around, really, REALLY angry. "We walked all the way over here and Lieutenant Slick can't even be bothered to show up?"

"Maybe he's racked up too much overtime figuring out new ways to torture us." Justin commented lazily from his position against a studio light. A scream suddenly made itself known, and I looked up to see Chris falling down. I turned away, but I heard a sound of metal going through something.

The contestants screamed, and I felt myself get splattered by some liquid. When I looked back, I saw what must have been a dream. Chris had a studio lamp through him! And Justin was slowly backing away. I screamed, but all that came out was a hoarse noise. It was sure to bring up a few questions.

Justin waved his hand in front of Chris's eyes. They didn't move. Justin breathed a sigh of relief. "Guess the producers don't like paying overtime." Justin looked so cute covered in the red stuff, but that comment was a little harsh.

"I'm worth every dime!" Chris was suddenly alive! That scared me, but not enough to make me scream.

"Aw man, I was just going to call dibs on your boat." Duncan walked up to the now-alive Chris. Chris had a boat? And Duncan would be mean enough to steal it? All of these contestants were very mean!

"It's the magic of cinema boys and girls! I'm absolutely perfectly crystal-ly fine!" He even removed the top part of the studio lamp, the spot it had been on completely clean. "Want to see how it's done?"

"NO!" All of the contestants, myself included, yelled at him.

Chris was never one to listen to our requests though. "Our crackerjack effects team seals fake blood into a thin membrane of plastic called a squib. This little baby bursts on impact. An old-fashioned optical illusion helps sell that I get impaled."

"Can we just get on with this?" Duncan answered in his normal dissatisfied tone.

"I can't believe you're so unscarable! You didn't even scream!" Lindsay commented to me. I knew I'd get questions about this sooner or later.

"I did on the inside. I just can't do it on the outside."

"Huh?"

"When I was ten, and they were doing my tonsillectomy," I faced Justin to make sure he'd hear the story too. "There was a freak accident and the doctor's earring fell in my throat. Can't scream worth a darn." I turned back to Lindsay to see her reaction.

"Get OUT!" She was in shock and awe, I knew. I smiled at her reaction.

"Serious."

"Time for today's totally terrifying blood-curdling horror movie challenge!" Chris began walking to us, all the while looking at the camera crew. "To find out which team gets which challenge, a SCREAM-OFF! Think of every great horror movie you've ever seen."

Izzy chuckled. "Oh my gosh, you guys. Did you see that one with the possessed rug that learned to walk and smothered cats? Or did I make that up?" Random, but Chris started talking again.

"All horror movies have one thing in common: fantastic screaming from actors. And the killers who snuff them." I noticed Justin's eyes go wide at that comment. "Each team, pick a serial killer. The rest of you will be the screamers. If your serial killer can make you scream the loudest, your team wins!" Chris put his hands up and grinned his usual grin. "Down to the studios everyone!"

**

* * *

Leshawna's POV**

We were gathered by Studio 4 to discuss who our serial killer would be. DJ was huddled on the ground, and Julie, who normally led discussions, wouldn't speak at all, so Heather took charge. "We have to pick Duncan, of course." The whiny bitch said, and again, I found myself agreeing with her. "Have you ever seen someone so serial killer-y?" She had the props Chris had given to us on the hill, a hockey mask and a red jug of fake blood.

"I'm terrified of him on a daily basis." I turned my head to see Harold cringing and shivering as he spoke.

"Plus he nailed the other acting challenges." I decided to speak up.

Heather was ready to hand the hockey mask to Duncan, but suddenly, a large hand reached down and pried the hockey mask from Heather's hands. "DJ's gotta do it!"

"But it's the first time our team has ever agreed on anything!" Harold argued, and he was right too. I glanced at Julie, who wasn't talking, but had an evil glare in her eyes directed at Chef.

"DJ! He's doing it."

"Listen Chef, maybe you can stick to your area of expertise with the sandwiches and I'll stick to mine." Chef didn't take Duncan's persuasion too well and lifted him up by the head and held on tight to one of his arms.

"Do you like having your arms attached to your torso?" Chef growled in a low voice.

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Arms are good. They throw things, feed you things, there's something to put in your sleeves, and if there's one thing I learned in Home Ec class: always listen to the dude with the knives." Duncan rolled his arms a bit. "Damn, that still hurts."

"Actually, your brain tells your arms to do all of that stuff, so that means your brain is really the good one and not so much the arms. You can live without arms, but not a brain you know." Tawny chirped. Duncan just rolled his eyes and left the Confessional.

* * *

Chef promptly threw Duncan into the metal wall of Studio 4 and picked DJ up from the ground and shoved the hockey mask into his hands before walking off.

"Since when does Chef interfere in challenges? Smells kinda funny to me." DJ was up to something, and I had a feeling it wasn't good.

"Oh, that's me, sorry." Harold pulled out a smelly, old, rotten sandwich. "I was saving them for later."

"You guys have got to let me be the killer! The mask offers good protection from my beautiful face." I could see the Grips were discussing who was going to be their serial killer, and Justin put the hockey mask over his face. Frankly, he shouldn't do that. He's so beautiful to look at!

"Okay! I am such the better scarer! My own dog is terrified of me, okay?" Izzy was one crazy girl, and if she scared her dog, she was scarier than I ever thought possible.

"Ow." Duncan was rubbing his head as he came limping to our group. "I can't believe Chef. When I get my hands on him—" A mask was suddenly shoved into his hands by none other than Julie. I gave her a weird look, Duncan gave her a weird look, everyone except DJ (who was too paralyzed) and the other team gave her a weird look.

"Chef's not here right now. We can have him be the serial killer and guarantee a win."

"I'm sorry, did you hear that?" Heather cupped her ear with one hand. However, I could hear Lindsay suddenly yell at her team.

"BETH IS GOING TO BE OUR SERIAL KILLER AND THAT IS THAT!"

* * *

**Confession Cam**

"Can I just tell you that felt so delicious? It was almost better than being pretty!" Lindsay paused, thinking over her statement. "Well, almost." Giggling, Lindsay dashed out of the confessional.

"Whoa." Tawny said. "I didn't think anything was better than being pretty for her..."

"You learn something new every day, I guess." Blaire shrugged.

* * *

"It sounded like a backstabbing traitor!" I couldn't hear the rest of their conversation because Heather started talking again. She glared at Julie. "Why should we follow what you say?"

"Because I'm right! DJ can't scare anyone for his life! The task has to fall to Duncan!"

"I'm not about to get Chef hell-bent on killing us all." I argued against her. I was still a little sore with her over the last challenge, but I really didn't want Chef to attempt to kill us.

"Me neither." Harold declared. He whispered to me, "He terrifies me."

"I don't feel like getting thrown against a studio wall again, thanks." Duncan sarcastically added.

"Then report him! He's not supposed to be interfering in the challenges anyway, right Leshawna? There's bound to be somebody here who will punish Chef for his actions!"

"Not Chris; he'll like the drama for it too much to care." I argued, still trying to prevent Julie from doing anything.

"Somebody else. Someone on the camera crew, an intern, anybody! But if we want to win, we can't let this happen. DJ's not even fit to scare anyone; he's still paralyzed!"

"Like I said," I started. "I don't want to die so young." Heather, Harold, and Duncan nodded in agreement.

Julie gritted her teeth and snarled. "If you won't help, then I will!" She broke off into a mad dash, and the first thing Harold did was grab onto her arm tight. "GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU NERD!"

I immediately went to Harold's aid and grabbed Julie's other arm. "You're out of control! You need to stay here with us and let DJ be the killer!"

"NO!" She took another step away from the studios. "I WON'T LET YOU GIVE THIS UP SO EASILY!"

Heather grabbed Harold's waist and started pulling in an effort to hold Julie back. "Don't waste your vocal cords! We need them to win!"

"I'll waste them however I want!" But Julie wouldn't scream, she just kept growling and snarling like a rabid puppy. She wouldn't stop either; she kept shuffling with us in tow, holding her back as best as we could. She looked back at us, and saw Duncan give the mask to DJ, who took it with shaking hands.

She sighed, and stopped moving. "I give up. You really want to bring me down with you." She looked down to the ground. "Fine." She looked up, a steely look in her eyes, and nodded. "I'll put in my best effort."

I smiled at her for the first time in ages. For now, she was being an okay sister. "All right!" I held up my hand for a high five, which she gladly did. "Let's do this!"

**

* * *

Harold's POV**

We were led into Studio 10 with Chris. Six sets were ready for us, one that portrayed a dark forest, another one with one green port-a-potty and another one with one blue port-a-potty, and the last two were sets of the inside of a wood cabin with a couch ready for people to sit on.

"Okay, serial killers, get out there!" DJ and Beth left to the dark recesses of the set. "Justin, Harold, you're the scarers. Have fun!" He waved before sending us off. GOSH! I ended up, along with Justin, being chosen for our first part of the challenge—by Chris! That IDIOT! Of course, he probably expects us both to fail miserably, so I guess I could give him credit for that.

The lights above the set were turned off as soon as Justin and I set foot on it. I could see Chris grinning deviously, and I shivered, getting into character as much as possible, going so far as to letting a bit of mucus drip from my nose.

"Dude," Justin walked up to me after a minute of wandering around. "You should see a doctor about that."

"I have allergies, all right? GOSH!" I walked away from him seething, but I was still able to listen to Chris.

"All right, Justin and Harold, prepare yourselves for your killers to enter." Chris was now seated on a director's chair. "And then, I want HUGE, MASSIVE, GINORMOUS SCREAMS! We'll be measuring the volume on our Scream-o-Meter!" He pointed up to nothing, and I could only guess that the Scream-o-Meter would be added in digitally. However, an actual scream sounded out through the studio, so I guessed that the meter was real. "Lights!" A few studio lights flashed on. "Camera!" One of the camera guys, a blond haired male wearing a gray shirt and blue board shorts rolled his eyes and hoisted the camera up, beeping red. "ACTION!" Another guy wearing green shorts and a white tank top clapped the clapboard.

I left Justin, not wanting to hear anymore of his mean jibes. However, I decided to turn around and walk the other way from where I had been walking. While doing so, I saw Beth pop out of the fake bushes.

"BOOO!" She wasn't scary at all, and Justin knew this.

"Aaaahhhh, I'm so scared." He fake-acted as best as he could, but that wasn't a loud scream! Even I could see that! A few beeps indicated that the Scream-o-Meter agreed with me. "I'm sorry; I just can't risk my pipes any further. What good is a face like this without my warm, yet manly tones to back it up?"

I heard a loud growl, enough to scare me just a little bit. I kept walking though, and DJ soon bumped into me. He looked as though he had just run away from a ghost or something.

"Oh, hey DJ. What's up?" He didn't even have his hockey mask on, and he looked very unsure of himself. He looked away to the back of the set, and then back at me. He put on his hockey mask and gave a low growl. I screamed as best as I could, which wasn't very loud compared to the screaming in scary movies. The beeps said otherwise.

"With a solid 50 on the Scream-o-Meter," Chris got up from his chair and faced the cameras. "Let's notch one up for DJ, Harold, and the Screaming Gaffers!"

I saw Lindsay and Leshawna being shown to the sets with the port-a-potties. I hope Leshawna wins this for us!

**

* * *

Lindsay's POV**

"The leader shouldn't have to compete!" I glared at Chip as he was pushing me to the blue port-a-potty.

"Okay, you're hot and all, but sorry! I like torture more!" He opened the door and shoved me in. "Have fun!" And he slammed the door on me. I saw a camera off to the side, and I decided to talk to it.

"That was an accidental tinkle on screen last season! I'm not doing it again! And how am I supposed to be scared when I know Beth is coming in any minute and she's not scary at—" The door was suddenly flung open, and all I could see was the hockey mask and hear a roar. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

**

* * *

DJ's POV**

I prepped myself for a second outside of the green port-a-potty. _You can do this DJ. You can scare the pants off of Leshawna. You can do this._ I took in a breath, put on the hockey mask, and opened the door in a flash.

I immediately shielded my eyes. Leshawna was on the toilet! Momma always says it's not proper to barge in on someone on the toilet. "Oh, I'm sorry! I—I busted in on your private moment. Boy is my face red!" I could feel my face burn up as I saw Leshawna glare at me.

"You want to win? Do the scene DJ!" I couldn't do anything, I just couldn't!

"Rargh." I gave a small roar and formed my hand into a claw.

There was a scream outside, and I could only hear bits of Beth and Lindsay's screaming. Leshawna wasn't screaming though. It looked like she was…snickering!

"I'm sorry." She gave a high pitched laugh. "I'm sorry, I just—I'm supposed to be afraid of this marshmallow?" She jerked a thumb at me and looked at the camera in the port-a-potty. "This—This big ol' kitten of a DJ?" She started laughing again! Really not cool! Outside, I could hear Chris.

"And that's round two to Beth, Lindsay, and the Killer Grips with a pee-fueled 85 on the Scream-o-Meter!"

We were escorted to the set that looked like the inside of a log cabin. I was standing by Duncan and Heather, who were reading the script, but I kept listening to the conversation Chris was having with Izzy and Owen.

"All right guys, this is the tiebreaker scene. You're gonna have to act your faces off!"

"Ooohhh boy, I'm not the world's greatest actor—" Owen chuckled and looked over to Izzy.

Izzy chuckled. "Oh, how horror movie is this? We have to make out."

"I LOVE THIS BUSINESS! Hubba hubba." Owen threw the script away and immediately, Izzy leapt to Owen and the two started making out ravenously.

"Awkward." Chris summed up my reaction too.

Heather gasped as she finished reading the script. "No. No, no, no. I would rather die." She even threw away the script for extra emphasis.

"That makes two of us lady." Duncan dropped his script. If the scripts were the same, then that meant they didn't want to kiss each other! I guessed that it was due to Heather hating Duncan and Duncan already having a girlfriend—or some sort of relationship with Courtney. I couldn't tell half the time.

Chris, who had been hiding behind the couch, suddenly popped up. "Don't forget kiddies! It's a million bucks!" He dropped down to the ground again.

Both scrunched their faces in disgust, but I knew both would do anything for the money. They slowly leaned in, and then once their lips met, their eyes shot wide open and they flew to other sides of the red couch, screaming in disgust.

**

* * *

Courtney's POV**

I was pacing the length of the surveillance room, glancing at the screens every so often. What I had just seen…ugh! It made me feel like killing someone!

"Court, what are you doing?" I ignored his question and kept pacing. "All right, here's your water." He threw it to me, which I gladly caught, but still didn't drink. I couldn't do anything, even though I wanted to, and the only way I could expel my anger was to pace angrily across the floor. "You shouldn't be drinking water all the time. Why not drink some wine? Soda? Juice from concentrate? Something sugary! I broke up with Tawny."

I stopped. "How could you? She loves you!"

"Now that I have your ATTENTION," He sat down in his swivel chair. "What the hell's wrong with you? You're wearing in a walking path. And by the way, I didn't break up with her; that was just to make you stop pacing."

"Did you see this?" I rewound the saved footage to show Duncan and Heather agreeing to kiss one another for the money.

"Well, wouldn't you do it too?" I attempted to protest, but I was cut off. "See? You can be such a hypocrite sometimes." He sipped from a Rio Sun juice bag.

"I am NOT a hypocrite! That was just a—a misunderstanding!"

"Uh huh, right. Besides, you didn't see what happened AFTER that." He now took the liberty of playing the rest of the footage to show them curling in disgust. "You didn't get up to pace after you heard that first part did you?"

"So what if I did?"

"You need to have a little bit more faith in people." He sipped from the juice bag again. "Really."

**

* * *

DJ's POV**

"You taste like street!" Heather wiped her mouth in disgust. I took this chance to try to scare them, but it seems they didn't notice. However, Heather let out a scream that registered on the Scream-o-Meter. "My lips may never recover!"

I looked over to Beth, who was trying her best to scare Izzy and Owen, who were still relentlessly making out. "I'm going to chop you into little teriyaki bits!" Nothing happened. "Um, guys?"

They took a break from their make-out session. "Hm? Oh," Izzy joined Owen as they both gave a non-enthusiastic scream before going back to making out.

Meanwhile, a large mass suddenly came in front of us, wearing a hockey mask and wielding a chainsaw. He gave a loud scream and waved the chainsaw up in the air. Duncan, Heather, and I all screamed, and then I felt the world fade to black.

**

* * *

Chris's POV**

Oh, this was almost too good! But Chef wasn't allowed to interfere in challenges, not if I didn't want to get fired! I made no effort to hold back my joy. "Well, looks to me like DJ and the well-named Screaming Gaffers have won this one! Seeing as they buried the needle, join us after the break to see if DJ's still alive!" He was crumpled over the sofa between Duncan and Heather, and I attempted to call out to him. "DJ…Come in, DJ. Earth to—"

"You're not going to get anywhere like that!" Julie suddenly burst onto the set. "One of you, help me get him lying down on the couch. He won't want to wake up crumpled like that." I was an onlooker as Julie, Duncan, and Heather pushed him onto his side so he was sitting upright in the chair. The Grips had also caught wind of this, and they along with the Gaffers were standing over DJ, waiting for him to wake up.

"Is he breathing?" Beth asked everyone.

"For your sakes," Julie glared pointedly at Chef and I. "I hope you didn't knock him out on purpose."

"I think he's saying something." Everyone quieted down as they attempted to hear what DJ was saying in his sleep.

**

* * *

DJ's POV**

I found myself high in pink and orange colored clouds. Was I in Heaven? It sure seemed like it, but a scream couldn't have killed me, unless that killer killed me first. Oh no! What happened to Duncan? And Heather? What about the others? "Mama?" I needed to talk to her first.

I kept searching from my position on the strangely solid clouds. I then saw the familiar red coat, red hat, and blue skirt of my mom. "Mama! I'm here! Mama!" She turned around, but she seemed very angry. "It's me mama! It's Poopydoo!" I even used my nickname to see if she would remember me. "Your little Devon Joseph Poopydoo!"

"The son I raised would NEVER lie! Or cheat!" And she smacked me across the face. Mama was suddenly gone, and I was back on TDA with Heather glaring me in the face. I rubbed my chin and concluded she was the one who had slapped me back into reality. I would've thanked her, but there were other things I needed to do first.

"I need to see Chef." And she gave me another slap to my face. Darn, she can hit!

"Heather!" I could hear Leshawna chastise her.

"What? He's still talking crazy!"

"Chef's in a meeting with the producers. A disciplinary meeting!" Chris told me. "He's in TROOUUUBBBLLLLEEEE! Not allowed to mess with the challenges!" I knew this was wrong! I knew this was illegal! There was one thing I had to do tonight!

**

* * *

Chris's POV**

I discerned with my ears a grumble from Leshawna. "I knew something was up!"

"You're like Albert Einstein with better hair and girly bits." Harold, not cool dude, not cool!

"Moving right along," I interrupted the conversation to avoid any more censurable material. "It's time to pack up those overnight bags, loser Grips! You and your sleeping bags are spending the night in the dining hall! Gaffer winners, back to the comfort of the trailers for a little R&R! I'll see you there in half an hour!" The teams dispersed, probably to eat, and now I had enough time to eat dinner!

**

* * *

Leshawna's POV**

We were limited to a half hour in the tent to eat. Apparently, Chris wanted us to stick to his rules like glue. Tensions were still running high; the tent was silent. I glanced at the Grips, and Justin was giving our table a death glare. I noticed Duncan glaring right back as I shoved a spoonful of macaroni and cheese into my mouth. It's strange how they were buddies this afternoon, only to be enemies at night.

Julie scoffed as she picked at her dinner. Heather immediately saw an opening for a bitchy remark. "We still won. Why are you so upset?"

"We might not win the next challenge. And if that happens, one of us has to go home."

"Then I know exactly who's going home."

"So. Do. I." Julie glared at Heather.

"Maybe it would be wise for you two to stop—" Harold attempted to intervene, only to be quickly shot down by the two girls.

"Shut up Harold!" Duncan began to flick his knife in and out of its holder. All DJ could do was look scared.

"You two have been arguing ever since the challenge ended." I commented, expecting the worse out of both girls.

"It's only because SOME people don't appreciate what they win!" Heather glared at Julie.

"Well, maybe it'd be better if it was a CLEARER win! I don't understand you—any of you—" She rose from her seat and looked down on us as if we were monsters. "Anymore. I just don't know any of you. You're all different, changed." She looked as if she were about to say more, but instead, she turned and ran out of the tent.

A minute or two later, Chris walked into the tent.

"Gafferinos! Time to hightail it out to the trailers! Grips! Get your overnight bags; you'll be staying here for the night. Chef, clean—"

Chef growled at Chris, a butcher knife in his hand. "Chef, _please_ leave the kitchen for the night. The contestants will clean up the food. Right everyone?"

We nodded and grumbled about Chris's evilness. As soon as that was done (this didn't take very long), the teams walked out together.

All DJ could do was look scared, Duncan kept flicking his knife in and out of its holder, Harold frowned while walking back to the trailers, Heather glared out into the night, and I just watched silently.

**

* * *

Chris's POV**

"All right Grips!" I was waiting for them, sitting on a stool ready to tell my fake ghost story for the last part of the challenge. "Gather 'round here!"

They grumbled and rolled their eyes as Justin, Beth, and Lindsay took seats in a circle. Owen and Izzy were taking their sweet time. Damn it, they couldn't be wasting time!

"This isn't such a bad place to spend the night. It's full of good memories…of food."

"Ho-ho! More than memories! I just found half a piece of cheesecake under here!" She held the piece in her hand as she rose from under the wood table. How did she do that? It was on the dirty ground!

"I think I love you!" Really? Really?

"Guys! Mind joining us here?" I started to tell the fake story in a hushed storyteller's voice. "I'm about to tell you why this film lot was abandoned and closed."

"Because it's a death trap?" Justin asked, clearly angry with me. Actually, the studio just went bankrupt. The producers and I made it a death trap—a damn good one at that.

"Hush my child. This film lot is perfectly safe—on this plane. But in the other dimension…" I held up the flashlight under my chin, which was Blaire's cue to flick off the lights. At the same time that happened, I flashed the light on. Owen, to my subdued delight, gasped.

"Ronnie the Rent-a-Cop, a dedicated security guard, who worked here for 25 loyal years, until her mysterious death, right here, ON THIS VERY SPOT!" I yelled loud enough to not damage my vocal cords, but still scare the shit out of the Grips. Their faces were utterly worth my sleep deprivation. "Now, her desperate and uneasy spirit walks the lot. No one," I shone the flashlight on the wall, and the shadowy tree branches my camera crew was holding came into being, scaring the Grips even more. "Has ever managed to spend a whole night in this Craft Services Tent!" Again, not true. This tent wasn't even here when we rented the film lot for the show!

"Because they were killed by falling sets?" Justin asked once again. He has got to stop messing up my storytelling groove!

"Because…of the HAUNTING!" I yelled right in Justin's face and in my most ghastly voice, and at that point, Blaire flicked the lights on again, and I turned off my flashlight. I had to face the camera, not the Grips, for I was still being filmed for the show itself. "Your task—spend the whole night here without leaving this tent! If you manage to do so, your team gets invincibility and nobody goes home!" I walked to the table with fake machines and an Ouija board on it. "Track any psychic phenomenon using these ghost meters. And just in case—!" Just for kicks, I held out my flashlight to Beth, and pulled out a miniature keychain flashlight for her instead.

"Gee…" She turned on the miniature flashlight, shining only a paltry light compared to mine. "Thanks." She added sarcastically.

"So sleep tight Grips! And don't let the poltergeists bite!" I chuckled as I walked out of the tent to the trailers. Their task was much harder, but then again, most people have to work hard to maintain their position. Nothing comes free—a little work must be done.

None of the Gaffers were outside. Crap. I walked to each of the trailers and banged on the door, then returned to my original spot by the wood table and benches and waited for the victims to pour out. They were all waiting by the fire and two logs, frowning, clearly thinking they had won the challenge. Boy, were they in for a surprise!

I left the wood table and walked to them with the biggest grin on my face, which pissed them off even more.

"What do you want?" Duncan asked bitterly.

"I thought we had won the challenge." Heather added snidely.

"Listen: this is the final part of your challenge. If you win this, you get invincibility and none of you go home."

"I'm sure that will be a disappointment to SOME of us." Heather focused her glare on Julie.

"It's definitely a disappointment to all of us because we can't vote SOME people off now." Julie retorted. Heather looked ready to tear Julie's eyes out, and I had to interrupt before their chance was lost forever.

"All right, all right! Listen to ME now! For the sake of appearances, you all have to be standing here, and I'll be walking in from over there." I pointed out into the dark. I actually didn't have to do it, but it was their punishment for interrupting me all of the time! They all had to pay!

"Why?" Julie asked almost instantaneously.

"It doesn't matter! I'm making the rules here!" Before any Gaffer could respond, I ran into the dark. I took in a few deep breaths to calm myself from the sprint, and coolly walked to the still frowning Gaffers.

"The Killer Grips are sitting in the Craft Services tent like sitting ducks." Yikes, a little repetitive, but the show must go on! I was given a little more confidence by the smile that made its way onto all of the Gaffers' faces. "Your task is to make like special effects gurus and frighten the pants off them! Or at least scare them enough to get them out of the tent before dawn."

"How are we supposed to scare them?" Heather asked me. Oh, Heather. She should be smart enough to know!

"It's your call. But you get them out, your team wins invincibility and nobody goes home! Oh, just so you know, I told them some cockamamie about a security guard who died on set." I gave a chuckle before walking off. However, I could still hear them from afar.

"How are we going to pull this off?" I heard DJ ask. Heh, I don't know! They just have to do it before morning! And I know exactly what I'm going to do…

**

* * *

Chase's POV**

"Chasie!" I heard Chris's grating voice fall upon my ears as I was watching the Gaffers come up with a plan to scare the Grips. Again, they had scorned Harold's ideas. I wouldn't blame him; puncturing Duncan's soccer ball to create a lame ghost? No way would that scare them.

"Yes, Chrissy?" I sarcastically retorted as I turned to face him.

"Go and fetch Courtney. I'm going to make her watch this with us!"

"That's not such a good idea. You know, there's this whole lawsuit business that I really am not in the mood to get caught up in right—"

"You're still working for me dude. In court, you may be somewhat against me, but in here, I'm still your boss, and she's still under our control. Until she wins—which she WON'T—I can still have her do what I want."

It seemed like Chris made some sort of mistake. Why did he keep contradicting himself? "Chris, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot dude."

"Are you PLANNING on letting Courtney win the lawsuit?"

"No way! It's a lot of money the producers could be losing! They'd fire me if I lost this!" He gave his usual wicked grin. "Now, be a good intern and fetch Courtney for me."

I gave a noncommittal shrug and grumble as I left to Courtney's cabin. It was a short walk, but in that time, I could think of a lot of things.

That was it. He was lying. He was actually planning on letting Courtney win. It wouldn't matter really; the proof was hard to combat. But this had all been a ratings ploy, from the very, very start of the game. The producers were probably completely ready to defray the costs, ready to give Chris a big bonus, and wouldn't mind their dignity being up in flames for a short while. Courtney and Duncan would be reunited; ratings would shoot sky-high, and the money loss could quickly be turned into a profit. The only question I was genuinely left with was "why Courtney?" Why was she his target? I wanted to dismiss it as another business tactic, for it could easily be justified as one, but there had to be something more, something that would make Chris so dedicated that he'd torture her on a daily basis.

I knocked on Courtney's door, only to hear a groan. "Chris, Chase, whoever you are, I don't need this now! Go away!"

"Courtney, Chris wants you."

The lock clicked and the door was flung open to show a perturbed Courtney. Inside, I could see her bed littered with manila folders and crisp white papers with black text on them. "Whatever he wants, I'm sure it can wait until morning. Can you tell him that?"

"He wants you to watch the rest of the challenge with us." I gave a sigh as she rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to waste time watching contestants scream their heads off like earlier today."

"The Gaffers are trying to scare the Grips this time. Personally, I want you there. He's not exactly the best guy to have around in a room." That was a lie. He was okay, and I could stand him. Courtney was the one I couldn't stand to be in a room with alone. She complained too much.

"I thought you two were good friends. You don't need me there."

"Yes, I do. Come on, Court, for me?"

She paused, and for a second, I thought my plea had worked. "No. Tell Chris that I don't have to follow his rules for the duration of my stay here." And she slammed the door in my face.

Rolling my eyes, I turned for the surveillance tent. I was graced with the sight of him laughing his head off. "Dude! Chase! These Gaffers haven't won yet! Lindsay's proved to be an obstacle after all!"

I looked at the small screen to see remnants of red stuff resembling blood on the wall. I realized quickly that the Gaffers made it look as though the walls were bleeding. "That didn't work?"

"Nope!" Chris gave an even heartier laugh. "Oh, this is better than cable!" I could only assume that he had forgotten all about the little quest he had sent me on. Either that or he was just being his sadistic self—again.

**

* * *

My POV**

"Anyone else have any brilliant ideas? Anyone who's not DUNCAN?" Heather shot back. I couldn't blame her this time; she was covered in a ketchup and corn syrup mix after our first attempt to scare the Grips. It hadn't worked due to Lindsay's sudden emergence of leadership. I had stopped Harold from using Duncan's soccer ball as a Phantasm Ball, but I was seriously considering going back to that idea. Maybe something so simple could work!

"DJ hasn't said anything, and anybody THAT quiet's gotta be thinkin' something." Leshawna added, and I glanced at a very nervous DJ. Leshawna had an inkling as to his dastardly deeds, but I wasn't about to give anything away. My methods would be thrown into even more question than now; the team almost didn't believe me when I said not to use Harold's idea! If I didn't have the rest of the team to back me up, we would have gone through with the plan.

"I don't like scaring people. Mama says it's not gentlemanly, and—" DJ weakly explained.

"Well Mama ain't here, is she?" Leshawna folded her arms, and Duncan got a deathly look in his eyes.

"And Papa Duncan wants to win and go to bed! So…?"

DJ looked down in shame for about five minutes, and Duncan stopped his deathly glare. I was suspecting DJ was finally having a psychotic break, and was ready to stand up for him. Suddenly, DJ looked up, a steeled look in his eyes. "I have an idea. Harold, get some rope. Julie, Heather, we need a police officer's uniform, four walkie-talkies, and a megaphone. Duncan, Leshawna, stay here with me."

"Why are we following your orders?" Heather sharply asked.

"I think we should just follow them. He's got something." I defended him and pulled Heather through the back door before she could fire some sort of retort. "The confessional has a few costumes in it. I remember a police officer uniform too."

"Then what are we waiting for? You go get my uniform and I'll get a towel to clean myself."

"Why do that? It actually looks as though you were killed." She glared at me. "What? I'm serious. We want the Grips scared, don't we?"

"And I want my skin clean! So you go get my uniform, and I'll clean myself!" I rolled my eyes before Heather and I parted ways.

"Meet me in the confessional!" I yelled in the dark. The run to the confessional wasn't all that long. I could feel the all too warm air slap my face. Curse summer nights. Why couldn't this competition be held in the winter? I reached the confessional panting as I knocked on the cool metal.

"Hey Julie!" Tawny gave a broad grin.

"Julie?" Blaire shoved Tawny to the side and gave me a look. "What are you doing here?"

"We're doing our final challenge to scare the Grips, and we need walkie-talkies, a police officer uniform costume, and a megaphone."

Tawny quickly shoved four walkie-talkies into my hands. "Walkie-talkies…and I'm sure we have a megaphone here somewhere…"

"I'll get you the uniform. Who's it for?"

"Heather. I kinda told her to come here, so—sorry."

"We'll act like we don't know you, don't worry." For a second, I thought all of our bad blood was gone. Those rainy days made me realize how valuable Blaire and Tawny were. To lose them would be devastating to my well being and my position in the game. But I still had to be on my guard. The friendship might only be temporary.

It didn't take long for Blaire to find a costume. "This looks like it's in Heather's size."

"FOUND IT!" Tawny's voice reverberated in the trailer. She had alerted us using a red megaphone she had found. "I got the megaphone for you!" She kept yelling through it.

"You know what?" I looked around the trailer. "Heather might not have heard me. I'll just take all of this stuff to her." I had the megaphone in one hand, the four walkie-talkies gripped in a bundle in my other hand, and the costume—hat included—slung over my shoulder.

Before I left, I felt it appropriate to officially say I was sorry to both of them. "I really am sorry, to both of you."

"You're forgiven!" Tawny gave a big grin and a thumbs up in my direction.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, not now when there's a challenge to complete." Blaire smiled though, and I had a feeling she forgave me too.

"All right. Thanks!" I barely managed to open the door to find a perturbed Heather waiting for me.

"I'm here, where is my costume?"

"On my shoulder. Can you grab it? My hands are full."

Surprisingly, she followed my request. "I'll be in the trailer changing. Don't ditch me."

"No, I won't." She didn't seem to trust me with that glare she gave, and promptly slammed the door in response.

**

* * *

Heather's POV**

"Can I have some privacy please?" I politely asked the two girls in the trailer. They were both not very nice, not with the things they did in this trailer to annoy me.

"Not with that tone." The brown haired girl, usually peppy, deadpanned.

"Change behind the costume rack. We won't try to sneak a peek or something." I had no real choice but to change behind the costume rack. Time was running out for us to complete the challenge, and I wanted to go to bed.

The costume was very itchy as I put it on. Was it dusted with itching powder or something? I quickly forced myself to forget the itchiness as I put on the police cap, which irritated my patchy scalp as well. I gathered up my other clothes and without even a goodbye to those two evil girls, I slammed the door after me as I met Julie, who was still waiting for me. I didn't expect her to, but I guess anything's possible.

"Right, let's go." We both sprinted back to the back of the Craft Services tent to meet up with the rest of the Gaffers. And of course, what were they doing when I came back? Staring at my itchy costume!

"Don't get any ideas vandal." I glared pointedly at Duncan, who had an insult coming, I knew it.

"Here are the walkie talkies and megaphone." Julie spread them out on the kitchen island—or poor excuse for one.

"Thanks you two!" DJ smiled briefly before reciting his plan to us. "Now, all of us are going to get in our positions. Leshawna will stand by one of the open windows out front with the megaphone and Duncan will stand by the light switch outside of the tent. When I give the cue, Duncan will turn off the lights. Harold, Heather that will be your chance to scare them even more. First though, another cue will tell Leshawna to start making ghost-like noises. The rope Harold got from the trailer will be tied around Heather's waist—uh, do it now."

Harold obediently tied the rope around my waist. I didn't want to argue, as much as I hated the nerd, because we had a challenge to complete. If DJ's plan worked, then I could finally get some sleep!

"Done!" Harold gave a thumbs-up.

"So when the lights are out, you'll quickly climb up one of the wood pillars in the room and wait in the rafters for my cue. Harold, when you get that cue, Heather will drop down and you will start swaying her around. Julie, you will sneak under the table the Grips are sitting at and start banging on any hard surface you can touch. They'll be too scared to figure out where it's coming from, and it'll send them into a bigger panic. Finally, I'll throw a fork at the ghost detector Lindsay's holding, hitting it so the alarm will go off and she'll have to leave the tent." This plan could actually work! I had to give DJ props, but not out loud. That's tacky and dumb.

"Can we get code-names? I want to be…MAGIC HAROLD!" The nerd put a hand on my shoulder. "And this is my charming assistant."

I shoved his hand off my shoulder. "You can be the Magic Dweeb on your own time."  
"I'd prefer to keep my name." Julie added.

"Magic Harold and his charming assistant," DJ pointed to me and Harold. I scoffed, but followed his orders. That bed was on my mind now…besides the scaring. "Eclipse," He pointed to the vandal. "Foxy Lady," He pointed to Leshawna, but was she anything but! She was just a big butt! "Creeper." He pointed to Julie last. She merely shrugged. If she didn't like the name, which I didn't, she didn't show it. "Now, let's get ready everyone! Leshawna, Duncan, outside in the places I told you to be."

I stood by the curtained opening along with Julie, Harold, and DJ. He took one look through the curtain, and I saw that the two sheep were playing Go Fish! The utter nerve!

"Got any two's?" The dumb blonde asked the farm girl. DJ gave the cue for Duncan to turn out the lights, and soon, the whole tent was drenched in darkness.

Beth, needless to say, was scared of the dark. "Um, can I give you my two's later?" As Julie vanished under the Gaffers' table and began knocking the wood (it sounded really scary too), Harold and I ran to one of the wooden posts and he pulled me up the wooden post. The one thing I could thank her for was that she disguised our ascension up.

It was a good thing those etiquette classes that I took as a kid helped; I could balance perfectly on the rafter. I glanced back at Harold, and he was nodding to the walkie-talkie, taking a glance every so often down below at the other team. Lindsay didn't look distracted at all, while the other losers had bunched up and were holding one another, scared of our pranks.

"Remember everyone, this is just Chris trying to scare us and Lindsay's team doesn't give up!"

"Lindsay's team?" Izzy drawled, an angry side of her I had never seen or heard before.

Leshawna's ghastly noises (when she could've used her own voice!) were my cue to drop down. The police cap was over my eyes, and I did my best interpretation of a zombie/ghost that I had seen in the scary B-movies my brother loved to watch at home. Faintly, I heard Harold use his "code name" and mine as well. For that, I'd get him for after the prank was over. But I just let myself be swung back and forth on the rope while I scared the other team. If only I could see their faces when they said what they said next!

"It's a poltergeist!" Owen exclaimed.

"Run-tergeist!" Izzy added, and a flurry of footsteps followed. I was so sure we'd scare them, but Lindsey's smarts came to their aid.

"Wait! The ghost meter's still not going off!" But they were already gone out of the tent.

That was DJ's cue to throw the fork. Although I didn't see him throw it, I knew it hit its mark because a rapid beeping went off, and a girlish shriek filled the air as the final footsteps retreated.

"And that's how WE win it!" I heard Leshawna from outside.

For once, I was pretty glad. I lifted the cap up, and I punched my fists in the air. Finally, we'd get some sleep! But DJ, the whole orchestrator of our plan, looked dejected. How was that possible? We had just won! So I took a little pity on the guy; he deserved it for getting us to win.

"DJ? Are you okay?" He looked up, and gasped as though he were seeing something else. "DJ?" I asked again, but he seemed…gone. But as my other team members came to his side (Harold dropped down from the rafter with a steady thud), he snapped out of it, despite his still morose look.

"Hello? Is anyone going to help me down from here?" I gave a condescending look to Harold. "You were supposed to help me down, you dweeb!"

"I knew I was forgetting something!" He commented, and before I could give so much as a huff, he untied me, and I landed with a thud on my butt.

"Someone could have caught me!" I looked up to my supposed teammates, but I noticed DJ wasn't there. "Hey, where's DJ?"

"He left." Duncan stated.

"I got that much, vandal." I pushed myself up off of the ground. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to be changing out of this itchy costume."

"ATTENTION GRIPS! LOOKS LIKE YOU LOST THE CHALLENGE! DAMN SHAME!" Chris took a moment to chuckle over the megaphones. "REPORT TO THE AMPHITHEATER IN ONE HOUR TO VOTE WHO WILL BE BOOTED OFF NEXT ON TOTAL…DRAMA…ACTION! GAFFERS, ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR NIGHT! YOU'RE GONNA NEED ALL THE REST YOU CAN GET FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE!" He chuckled—again, and the megaphone clicked off. What that was about, I didn't know. He's like that all the time, I learned from TDI.

"Whatever." I kept my aloof distance as I walked away from the Craft Services tent with my head held high. After I changed out of my costume, I was going to find DJ.

**

* * *

DJ's POV**

I couldn't be there, not after seeing my mother again. She admonished me for being a cheater! That did it for me!

After I saw her, I excused myself from the tent, and then broke out into a mad sprint for the trailers. Tears were forming in the back of my eyes, but I knew what I had to do. I had decided it after seeing my mother in the first vision.

I was going to vote myself off of TDA.

I didn't care if I wasn't allowed to do it, I didn't care about how angry my teammates would be, I actually didn't care about losing out on that million dollars; for once, I cared about my mother, myself, and my wellbeing. I wasn't doing somebody else's work; I was making my own decisions this time around, not letting Chef or anyone else boss me around. I felt so proud of myself as I packed up my things in the trailer.

But what would my teammates think? Especially the girls. They'd boss me around like nobody's business, trick me into staying. However, I hid my packed suitcase under the dark underbelly of my bunk bed and went outside for a last walk around my home for a few weeks now.

**

* * *

Heather's POV**

"Come back soon Buddha!" The perky girl from the trailer called after me, giggling in delight at my misfortunate head. "We need all the luck we can get!"

"SHUT UP!" I turned around and yelled back, and the trailer door closed in response. I could still hear her guffawing though.

No, time to focus. DJ was looking upset, and I had to figure out what was wrong with him. It was the least I could do for a fellow competitor.—Huh? Since when did I become so nice? I'm not nice! I'm Heather! I get what I want! Why should I care if Mr. Nice is having problems? But the feeling was overtaking me fast, and my nail in the coffin was when I spotted DJ walking around, still looking like a lost puppy.

"DJ?" He kept walking. "DJ!" He saw me and stood absolutely still, just the way I like my teammates to follow my orders.

"Heather!" A nervous chuckle. "Uh…hi?" And then I realized; what the hell was I doing? I never started a conversation unless I needed something from someone, whether it's to ask my brother to stop his pranks on me or ask my parents for a spring wardrobe from the New York Fashion Show. I couldn't speak because I had no clue where in the world to actually go from there. "What are you doing out here?"

"I would ask you the same question." I found my voice again, to my surprise. He looked away from me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I'm just…walking around. Looking at the set when we're not competing. It's actually a pretty nice place." He gave a crooked smile, as though he was…going to miss everything?

"Really?" That stopped my meanness before it could even start. "I've only seen it as a death-trap for Chris to kill us in."

"I don't think he means to kill us. It's just his nature to act that way. And there's money on the line for him. He has a living to make."

"Which just so happens to be putting us in danger for every single challenge! I'm not going to miss this show. They gave me a shaved head!" He gave me an apologetic look that said, "It'll grow back." But then his face changed into one of emotional pain.

"Heather, I know this may not be the best question to ask you, but you're the only one around. Do you ever feel guilty about anything you do on this show?"

What sort of question was that? "Of course not. It's all to win that money, money that could go to buying more clothes, or a new car, or even pay my way through a private university!"

"Oh. Okay."

I rolled my eyes at his moping. "I'm not the best person to ask. You should ask someone like Julie, who'll probably donate it all to a charity or something. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Not about the money." And he started to trudge away.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" He plopped down on a patch of grass. As soon as he did that, my legs picked up and started to run to his side. "If that's not what you wanted to hear, what was?" I carefully sat down on the grass next to him. Now he was looking up at the sky, and since we weren't near the city, there were a lot more stars to be seen. "DJ!"

"Why do you care?" His eyes, his tone, his entire face…was he actually angry at me? "I don't remember the last time you cared about anyone."

"I do care about people!"

"If their needs are important to you in the long run."

That shut me up. As I started to think over every single relationship I had with my friends and family, I realized he was right. The rules I made back at school were to protect my clique from all of the others and make them happy, and my family…I acted fake-nice to get what I wanted, but it wasn't working so well, not after I saw my video letter from home. I can still remember the sick feeling I got when I saw my bed and picture being carried out on camera. It made me shiver visibly. But there was another thing, a very important thing I was forgetting. Before I even knew what it was, it tumbled out of me, "Like on a date?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah. But you probably don't have a lot of dates considering your personality."

"I do! But…" I couldn't think of how to complete my sentence for what seemed like an eternity. "something's always wrong and I break up with them within a few weeks." I lay back on the dirty grass, for once not caring about whether or not it would dirty my clothes. It's not like anyone would care and I could always say that the girls in the trailer weren't very nice to me. "There's nothing wrong with you, is there?"

"Nah, nothing. I've just been a little confused about the competition. I need the money for Mama, but I don't want to do anything bad."

"There's something my dad used to say to me when I was little. 'Never forget who you are no matter what you do.' It's helped me make a few decisions about where to go in life. Just go with what you think is right, not necessarily what everyone else around you says is right."

"Heather giving advice." He chuckled. "That's new."

"I've never talked about myself to anyone on the show this much." My lips curved into a smile. "It's weird."

"It's called being nice. I judged you more quickly than I thought, Heather. Maybe you've got a heart after all."

I didn't say anything. The warmth inside me was enough to leave me staring up at the stars. Maybe I could be nice if I opened up more. Maybe people wouldn't see my weaknesses so quickly—except for Julie. I'd have to watch what I say around her. But the girls could be really good friends.

**

* * *

Chase's POV**

"Oh my God. Why the hell do you have to wear that tux every elimination ceremony?" Chris was in that damn sky blue tuxedo that was probably given to him from the '70s.

"It's called a par-o-dy, Chasie-Chase. I just so happen to like imitating the way those Gemmie Awards hosts dress."

"What did I say about the damned nicknames?"

"That they're awesome! You're welcome in advance." Sometimes, I don't even know why I bother arguing with Chris. "You know you like them."

"No, I don't."

"Whatever man! I have some teens to fry! See you later Chasie-poo!" He chuckled evilly and left the tent.

Sighing and fuming, I turned back to the screens and sipped my coffee…only to almost spit it out and short circuit everything. My reaction wasn't because the coffee was too hot or too cold, but what was on the screen. With a few keystrokes, I zoomed in for one of the cameras and saw exactly what I thought I was looking at. "Oh my God…Cour-Courtney…I have to tell Courtney…" I couldn't tell Chris; Courtney was the one person on-site right now that I could trust with such deadly information. Sure, I toppled backwards trying to get out of my seat, but at least I escaped with no cuts or bruises.

I slapped the door three times before I got an enraged answer. "Chase, what the hell do you want?" I just grabbed her wrist and started dragging her to the surveillance tent. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You are so going to—" She saw the chair toppled backwards and grew apprehensive fast. "Chase…?"

"Look at the second panel in the second row." I commanded as I picked the swivel chair back up.

"Chase…I don't see anything." She huffed and crossed her arms.

"No, look closer." I picked up my coffee and took a sip.

"I don't see anything, really. And I'm looking this time."

"You've got to be—" When I looked at the panel myself, I nearly fell down with shock. "joking." What I was sure was there a second ago was now gone.

"Haha, very funny. You cost me two minutes of important legal review time, do you know that?" She spun on her heel and started to walk out.

"I swear, there was something there!" I pointed back at the screen.

"Yeah right. We're on the same side; why would you want to distract me like this?" That's when I decided that I wouldn't show her that I was right. It was her loss if she couldn't use it to her advantage. I'd find it myself and tell Tawny and Blaire. And then I'd erase it so Chris and the TDA Aftermath people would never see it; I knew full well that Chris would hurt the people in the panel if they stayed much longer. I couldn't afford to see that happen. It would hurt more than I'd care to admit.

**

* * *

Heather's POV**

"Heather! Heather!" I shook my head as the voices woke me up. Apparently, I had fallen asleep on the grass. I immediately recognized the voices as my teammates' and shot up quickly.

"Heather! There you are!" Leshawna ran up to me. "Where have you been girl? We've been looking for you!"

"I was just on my way back to the trailer…" Crappy lie, as I saw by the looks on my teammates' faces, but it'll have to do for now. "What's going on?"

"The dweeb was looking for his glasses on the floor—" The vandal started.

"Which you knocked off my face!" The dweeb interrupted.

"Anyway, Doris was looking for his glasses when he found a suitcase under one of the beds."

"So?" I asked.

"It was DJ's. We opened it—" Which I happened to think was really disgusting. "and found it fully packed. You know what that means."

I could feel myself grow cold all over again. And then it dawned on me: DJ wasn't next to me. "You don't think…?"

"They've started already!" Julie shouted from behind me. "I saw DJ waiting! We've got to hurry if we're going to stop him!"

It couldn't be! They started to run and I vainly hoped, "Maybe he's just watching the ceremony?"

"Boy like that? I thought you were smart!" Leshawna yelled. I ignored the insult and sped up my sprint.

By the time we got to the amphitheater, he was already walking onto the stage. We calmly walked behind him as a team to make sure he wouldn't spot us.

"And the Gilded Chris goes to…"

In the middle of the long pause, DJ finally yelled out, "STOP! I'm going to do what I should've done long ago: make Mama proud! I'm voting myself off!"

Chef began a menacing walk toward DJ. It wasn't menacing just because of his walk, but his dress. His underwear…it was hard not to see it. "DJ…why don't you and I have a chat before you do anything STUPID?"

"No Chef!" I was surprised inside; never had I seen DJ do anything so…bold. It was nearly the same stance that Julie did to me back in the camping challenge. "I'm not listening to you anymore! Chef and me, we had an illegal alliance." Everyone gasped loudly. I couldn't help but put a hand to my mouth. It—it was practically impossible! He was doing something illegal after all! And then I saw Chris's face—even he didn't know about it. That ruled out any possibility of this being a ratings trick; it was real. "He's been tutoring me in tough, coaching me through the challenges…I'll miss you all!"

Owen, with his surprising fat boy speed, was up on the stage without even breaking a sweat. "Wai-wai-wai-wait-wait-wait! You've been cooking all the delicious food? The pizza? The cheesecake?" Owen knelt down and grabbed DJ's shirt and whined, "The sandwiches?"

Duncan left the group to DJ's side. "Dude, you can't leave!"

"Yeah!" Even the Grips were up on the stage now, with Justin taking the lead. "Can't we just vote Chef off instead?" That got a growl from Chef.

"Sorry, but I gotta make it right…for Mama." The sheep, hose-beast, and a few of the guys started 'aww'ing, but I didn't, and neither did Julie. While I was a little shocked by everything to even speak, Julie had some words to say.

She walked up to Chef calmly, but I knew from her stance that she wasn't calm at all. "Fuck. You." No one had the guts to say anything, not even Chef.

When she got to DJ, her reaction was strange. She tried speaking, then stopped, and remained silent for a long time. No one did anything; it was almost as though they knew something was coming. As to whether it was good or bad, not even I knew the answer. "Fuck you too. I hope for fuck's sake you're making the right decision." With that, she spun on her heel, jumped off the stage, and walked away.

The funny thing was that neither I nor anyone else bothered to stop her, not even Chris or Chef. After a long minute, Chef finally walked off the stage.

"We'll bring your suitcase for you dude." Duncan patted DJ's shoulder and walked off with Harold and Leshawna close behind. I didn't go. I just…I couldn't miss saying bye to DJ, not after everything that just happened.

"Well, I guess that wraps things up!" Chris put on a somewhat happy face. "Grips, you're safe…for now." All of them, even Owen, walked off. Finally, Christ walked up to DJ. "DJ, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You can wait here to say any goodbyes to your teammates. It's been real." He offered a fist.

"Thanks Chris!" They pounded fists and Chris left the stage to the street where the limo would be.

"DJ…"

"Hey." He smiled, but I couldn't say anything. "Don't know what to say again?"

"I know what to say! And it's not what Julie said." I paused; I was becoming too nice again, but I needed to continue. It'd be on my mind too much, and I couldn't have that for the competition. "But…"

He started fishing in his pockets for something. "Here." He handed me a neatly folded sheet of white paper. "I, uh, didn't want to leave it outside for it to get lost or for someone else to read, but…read it on your own, after I'm gone."

"DJ—"

"Please?" I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't say no. "Thank you." He jumped off the stage and ran to the road. That was my cue to leave. I stuffed the paper into my pocket; I'll definitely read it as soon as I was going to sleep.

**

* * *

Chris's POV**

"Hey man! Have trouble with the Ice Bitch?" I chuckled to DJ.

"Nah, I sent her off. She was starting to mouth off about quitting."

"Good. Look, I may like that you leaving will boost up viewers, but you were still a cool dude. Things are going to get a hell of a lot more crazy around here."

"They're crazy enough." DJ grinned. He had to get that copyrighted before I stole it! "Have fun though!"

"I always do dude!" The limo that I arranged for Gordon to drive (not Chef; he'd tear DJ to bits, and I couldn't have that for the reunion special!) pulled up, wheezing exhaust all over.

"DJ!" Duncan, Harold, and Owen rushed to us suitcase in hand.

I opened the limo door. "Throw the suitcase in there and get out of the frame dudes! We're still rolling!" Duncan threw the suitcase in and all three guys said bye to DJ before running off. DJ waved to them (and indirectly to the camera) and got in the limo. The tires started moving, but what I wasn't expecting was Owen rushing to the back of the limo, clinging to the dingy car.

"Can you still send food?" Gordon squealed away and left Owen on his knees. "Pretty please with delicious sandwiches on top?"

I walked into the frame and patted Owen's shoulder. "Well folks, looks like Owen's gravy train just hightailed it out of town! Now that he's survived this week's fright fest," for dramatic effect, I grabbed his pudgy face and started pinching his cheeks and shaping it randomly. "will Owen be able to bear the most HORRIFIC, STOMACH-CHURNING, GUT-WRENCHING CHALLENGE EVER?"

"What is it?" Owen asked.

I pulled his sweaty face right up to mine. "CHEF'S COOKING!" To my sheer delight, Owen flailed his arms and screamed before falling backwards to the floor. I couldn't help but let out a few laughs and a final sigh. "I love this game." Not to my delight however, Owen barfed all over my shoes. "Dude! Not the shoes!" I couldn't even say the outro because I was so disgusted. Warm, disgusting barf was getting all over my newly shined leather shoes! They cost five hundred dollars! I ended up leaving Owen on the floor while I walked back to HQ to take a hot shower…no doubt I'd be in there for a half hour just getting rid of the smell on my feet!

**

* * *

Heather's POV**

As soon as I was dressed in my pajamas and relaxed in my bed, I carefully unfolded the note that I took out of my shorts' pocket. I hid under the covers and turned on a mini-flashlight my parents gave me.

_Heather,_

_You really surprised me tonight. I thought it was some weird trick to convince me to stay on the show, but I realized that it really wasn't and that you were actually caring for me. It's really sweet of you._

_You can probably tell by now that you didn't convince me to vote myself off. Although, you did make all my doubts disappear. Don't feel bad about that; you really helped someone in need. It's probably the first nice thing you've ever done on this show, even though no one was around to see it. You know that saying, "Character is who you are when no one is watching?" Well, I guess I happened to be watching. And I wasn't kidding about what I said, in case you doubted me too: you're a really nice person; you just don't show it too often._

_I guess you know why I asked you that question, huh? Now that I've thought about it, I guess you were the right person to ask. I don't think Julie would have told me the same thing._

_And you're right about the date. How about it? Whenever you see me again. Maybe when you win. It doesn't even have to be a date, just a talk. You've got a lot of issues; you need someone to talk to. Seeing as you don't trust the other teammates, maybe I could help? I know that it's really awkward, me asking you through a letter, but I would've chickened out if I tried to ask in person. I promise to keep it a secret if that's what you want._

_If you say no though, I understand. Too much too soon, or way too awkward, or whatever. I'm still here if you need a friend though. It seems like you don't have that many good friends back home._

_-DJ_

_P.S. I almost forgot to add: put this letter somewhere safe where not even Julie would look for it, like in the pillow case. And if you ever forget about this letter and just feel the sheet of paper under your head, you can pull it out and read it again. That'd be interesting, wouldn't it?_

I couldn't help but smile a bit at the letter. It explained everything about what happened tonight and left me feeling better about myself, just what I needed for the competition. However, I was worried about his question. I'd have to decide before the next challenge or else it'd haunt me for the rest of the game; he was almost counting on me to win. I folded the paper back up and stuffed it in the pillow case, turned off the flashlight, and went to sleep.

* * *

Bridgette: Hey everyone! Welcome back to the TDA Aftermath Stage! I'm Bridgette!

Geoff: And I'm-!

Nikki: Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! LANE! I'M GOING TO PUMMEL YOUR SKINNY BUTT!

Geoff: Chill Nikster. Anyway, I'm Geoff.

Bridgette: We're picking up where we left off last time-Lane's interview!

Lane: Hey everyone. I know I'm bound to the chair, but really, don't call for help. I'll be fine.

Geoff: We're fielding questions from your friends right here on the stage-for pure audience pleasure!

Bridgette: Geoff, that wasn't the plan-

Nikki: Yeah, I have a question! Why the hell are you focusing on Heather so much? Why did you make her so OOC? She's not nice! She's the evil Ice Queen! And what the heck was with the end? It's like your brain checked out or something! I wanted to see Heather clobbered to bits!

Lane: Uh, well, I had been thinking right before I took the break that maybe Heather wasn't as bad as people made her out to be. So I took a few "writer's liberties" for the sake of making it seem as though I hadn't missed a beat in terms of keeping to the story. Don't worry, I have this all figured out on my planning paper. It's one of the storylines I'm looking forward to most. Plus, I felt that I had been focusing on Julie way too much. We got a little bit of her side this chapter, but also DJ's side mainly because I felt that this was "his" episode. And toward the end, I put focus on Heather because of all of the stuff I saw while watching the episode. Julie was also acting a little weird too; it'll all be sorted out soon enough.

Bridgette: I'd love to see Heather be nicer after all of this!

Lane: Believe me, I would too. But change comes slowly. You saw all of her inner thoughts; she's a pretty strict girl.

Geoff: Yeah, whatever. So when can we expect another update?

Lane: You're in luck; I'm playing catch-up now, so hopefully, I'll get the next in-between chapter done by the end of the week. You wouldn't believe it; this chapter clocked in at 21 pages and I passed the 180 pages milestone! I won't be surprised if I break 200 by the time I'm done with the in-between stuff.

Bridgette: That's great Lane! Any other questions?

Nikki: Forget all of you losers! I'm going back to Gwen and Trent!

Geoff: I guess not! Time to wrap this up! Reviews are really nice and guaranteed a response!

Bridgette: Bye everyone! Tune in next week when we interview the latest loser: DJ!

Tawny *running in*: Aw, I was expecting a fight with blood all over the place...I popped popcorn and took bets and everything. Sorry if you were disappointed! I was. Uh...want some freshly popped popcorn?


End file.
